The maker of a brand of soups endorsed by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White has been bought by Key Capital Partners, the Leeds-based private equity group, showing that dealmakers are still hungry to acquire food and drinks companies.

TSC Foods, the maker of chilled...

Shopfitter Styles & Wood today revealed a major refinancing package to raise cash through a new share deal as it announced a pre-tax loss of almost £1m.

The Altrincham based company will raise £12m through a new share offer and says it already has...

Acal announces that its subsidiary, Acal Supply Chain Limited ('Acal Supply Chain'), has today acquired the remaining 25 per cent. of the issued ordinary shares in SSE for a cash consideration of £1,000,000.

As announced on 12 January 2009, Acal Supply...

Entrepreneur Jennie Johnson has secured a £7.5m loan from Abbey’s new corporate lending team and appointed advisors in a bid to attract more funding to expand her Didsbury-based Kids Allowed nursery business.

Johnson, who co-founded Kids Allowed in 2005,...

NCC Group plc (LSE:NCC, "NCC Group" or "the Group"), the international independent provider of Escrow Solutions, Assurance Testing and Consultancy, has acquired Next Generation Security Software Ltd ("NGSS"), a security and testing company, for a maximum consideration...

Ingenious Media Active Capital (''IMAC'') has today completed an investment of £7 million in Review Centre Limited (''Review Centre'') a newco set up to acquire Resource Team Limited (''RTL''). RTL's main...

A management team from Nantwich-based chemical distribution firm Multisol have announced that they have completed a buy-out of the £78.5m turnover business for an undisclosed sum.

The company, which last year made a profit of £6m, was sold by the Banner...

NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC, "NCC Group" or "the Group"), the international, independent provider of Escrow Solutions, Assurance Testing and Consultancy, has acquired Escrow Europe Holdings B.V. ("Escrow Europe"), a pan-European escrow solutions company, for a maximum...

Casper Limited ("Casper") today announces the acquisition of W K Thomas and Company Limited, W K Thomas ( Disposables) Limited and Marchant, Thomas and Murrell Limited (Together "W K Thomas").

W K Thomas are leading distributors of packaging, disposables and other...

Online holiday business On the Beach has secured private equity investment in a deal which is believed to value the Manchester and Cheshire based firm at around £40m.

ISIS Equity Partners has taken a significant stake in the company, resulting in a windfall for...

Manchester based IT security firm NCC Group has made its second swoop of the year with a £4m deal for a business which tests the computer networks of companies such as BAA, Orange, Flybe and SAGE. NCC has bought SecureTest, of Thame, Oxfordshire. The business was...

British Airways is expected to announce today the completion of the sale of a large part of BA Connect, its lossmaking UK regional operations, to Flybe. The deal could cost BA about £150m, including finanical guarantees.

In return BA is taking a 15 per cent...

The chief executive of Manchester-based It security business NCC Group today issued a warning over the growing threat from computer hackers, as he unveiled a big rise in profits and a major acquisition.

Rob Cotton said hackers and high-tech fraudsters pose an enormous...

A Yorkshire company which made hats for Winston Churchill and now has a £40m turnover business producing children's dressing-up costumes has undergone a £21m management buyout (MBO).

Historic hatmaker Christy Group, based in Barnsley, is the UK's...

Casper Limited ("Casper") today announces the aquisiition of King UK Limited ("King UK"), the leading distributor of non-food products to the licensed trade and catering sectors in the UK. The business was acquired from Autobar Group Limited ("Autobar") in a private...

Shares in Altrincham-based shopfitting firm Styles & Wood are expected to begin trading on the stock market next week in a move which will value the company at £96.7m. Styles & Wood confirmed its float plans as it forecast sales of £264m for 2006, up from...

A company set up 36 years ago has been sold to growth-hungry north west firm Speedy Hire for £13.5m.

Bill Parkinson, 67, established Lifting Gear Hire in Atherton and grew it into a £16.2m-turnover enterprise with 34 depots across the UK employing more...

A multi-million pound management buy-out has taken place at Britain's biggest privately owned toy and gift manufacturer, based in Fleetwood, Lancashire.

Brothers Alan and Graham Halsall have completed the sale of David Halsall International, whose headquarters...

NCC Group plc, the independent provider of IT assurance, security and consultancy services, has acquired its second US-based software escrow solutions business, Source Harbor Inc, for a maximum consideration of $1.5m in cash.

The business was established three years...

Beechfield Brands Limited is a leading supplier of unbranded headwear, bags and accessories to distributors of leisurewear throughout the UK and European markets. The company is based in Bury, Lancashire and also has an office in China.

The vendor and sole shareholder...

Manchester based IT group NCC has secured its first foothold in the world's biggest economy with a US acquistion.

NCC bought complementary escrow solutions business Recall Total Information Management, part of the Brambles Industries group, for a cash sum of...

Cheshire based RK Group Limited has been acquired by Quantica plc, the FTSE listed recruitment and training group, in a £13m deal.

RK Group was founded in 1993 by ex Michael Page board director Richard Robinson. The company consists of six specialist...

American electronics giant Solectron Corporation has bought a £30m-turnover Cheshire-based computer parts business. Solectron is believed to have paid about £15m for ServiceSource Europe, which employs 200 staff, and is based at Appleton, Warrington. It was...

There was a good mix of firms reflecting activity at the top end of the market, such as KPMG and PWC, who have both had busy years, and there was a strong vote for the Manchester office of a powerful global player, Rothschild.

But it was one of the hungriest...

Manchester IT consultancy NCC Group today raised £38m through a placing of shares with institutions on the Alternative Investment Market.

The Group will have a market capitalisation of over £55m when trading begins.

The company will use over...

NCC, the UK market leader in insuring companies against the collapse of their business software supplier, plans to float up to 75 per cent of its shares on Aim next month in a placing expected to value it at about £65m. NCC, whose revenues have grown at 20 per cent a...

The management at Styles & Wood, which project-manages retail store developments for blue chip companies, bought 3i's shareholding in the business, which joined the company when it backed an MBO in 2001.

The funding was provided by Aberdeen Murray Johnstone...

Rickitt Mitchell has been shortlisted for the Corporate Finance Boutique of the Year Award in the Real Deals Private Equity Awards 2004 to be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 29 April 2004.

The chairman of CD Bramall, a car dealership, is driving off with a £76m windfall after his business was bought by a rival for £230m.

The takeover by Pendragon will make it the UK's largest car dealer, with 4pc of the market, and the biggest in the...

The six strong management team led by executive chairman Roy Eady has acquired a 22 per cent. stake in the business that sees 3i exit completely, and provides an exit for majority shareholder Brian Kennedy, who has reinvested a substantial sum to acquire a significant...

The chairman David Bernstein has secured the backing of the US investment bank Bear Stearns with a deal which in time could total £44m. The bank has initially brokered a £30m bond, based on City’s loyal fan base. “The deal is secured on the future...

The board of Quicks believes that the £40.16m deal, announced last Friday, is in the best interests of the company, which today announced a 6.6 per cent. increase in annual turnover to £589.6m.

Pre-exceptional profits for the year ended 31 December 2001...

Chepstow PLC, the acquisition vehicle of a consortium comprising directors Richard Fildes, Fergus Watson and Andrew Bird, together with Barry Owen, made a recommended cash offer for Barlows at 72 pence in cash per share.

Immediately preceding the offer, Barlows...

It was two months before shareholder restructuring at Altrincham based retail property services company Styles & Wood could finally go ahead, last October.

Venture capitalists 3i bought for an undisclosed sum the 38.3 per cent stake held by private...

This is what Insider said......The picks-and-shovels merchants of the internet revolution get my vote. The dot-com sector is having trouble with investor confidence and there will be many more business failures and forced consolidations as a result. But the internet is here...

The deal is being funded by a combination of equity backing from ECI Ventures and debt from BHF Bank, part of ING Barings. The company has earnings before interest and tax of £2.8m and a turnover of £25m. The chain has been built up by Paul Benjamin and his family...

Through no fault of its own, TeleCity was caught in the eye of a storm caused by spectacular falls in the global value of technology stocks. In late May as the company was finalising its offer, an almost unprecedented set of events caused the float to be pulled at literally...

Moreover, not all firms reporting deals always list the names of their professionals. Others, however, list everyone in their team but not the personnel involved on the other side. The result is patchy - and often more a reflection on each professional firm's marketing...

Rickitt Mitchell, founded 23 years ago by Peter Rickitt, father of former Coronation Street star Adam, was the only Manchester firm to be recognised in the prestigious awards.

Judges of the Acquisitions Monthly National Awards said the Clarence Street firm had...

Management at Staffordshire computer company Instem yesterday announced plans to take the business back into private hands.

Investors are being offered 210p for their shares - a price they have not achieved for more than ten years. At the end of last week, venture...