The Mid Market Deals 2014 Conference – Data And Case Studies On Recent Deals

Welcoming note from the conference chairman:

Redcliffe’s conferences have become increasingly popular over the last few years. The annual conferences on Debt and Private Equity, which featured a wide range of key decision makers, attracted large audiences. Following in the wake of these successful events, Redcliffe have pleasure in launching a new conference on deals taking place within the mid-market corporate arena.

Mid-market firms are the unsung heroes of the economic landscape, with firms in this segment occupying an increasingly important part of the European economy. In the UK alone, some 28,000 mid-market companies delivered over one third of the total economic contribution. This position is reflected in the larger countries across Europe (Germany, France and Italy) which also generate about one third of private sector revenue and employ about a third of each country’s workforce [source: GE Capital]. It is therefore hardly surprising that there is plenty of scope for corporate finance transactions – acquisitions, disposals, management buy-outs, refinancings and even stock market flotations – within this firmament.

This conference addresses many of the types of deal that have been taking place in the mid-market over the past year and looks forward to 2015. It focusses in particular on acquisitions and disposals, examining the different methodologies deployed by corporates in their quest to bring about a successful transaction and enhance shareholder value. It also places considerable emphasis on the use and availability of debt finance, exploring the various ways in which debt can be introduced into a deal and the properties of the suitable debt instruments. The overseas dimension regarding disposals, which has of course become more relevant in recent years, is considered with interesting examples, and the conference also covers the latest developments in the world of management buy-outs. No conference on mid-market deals would be complete, however, without a review of the latest trends in valuation, and this issue is also given prominence.

We look forward to welcoming you to this conference.

Pierre Chabrelie
Global Co-Head of Corporate Finance
ING Bank

08:15 – 08:45 Coffee & Registration

08:50 Chairman’s Opening Remarks
Pierre Chabrelie, Global Co-Head of Corporate Finance, ING Bank

09:00 Overview of Mid Market Deal Activity: The shift in Funding Mix and Alternative Investors
Karl Nolson, Managing Director Debt Finance – Corporate Banking Origination, Barclays

Key themes will include:

• Drivers for debt capacity and demand
• Considerations when looking at funding structures
• When to access alternative funding markets
• Alternatives such as non-bank lending, private placements, bonds

Questions & Answers

09:25 The Big Issue – The questions and opportunities facing buyers, sellers and investors in the mid-market (Panel Discussion)
Moderator: Pierre Chabrelie, Global Co-Head of Corporate Finance, ING Bank

• The lawyer; are we loved or tolerated?
  • Alistair Hill, Managing Associate, Simmons & Simmons LLP
• The CF advisor; our role as Master of Ceremonies
  • Sriram Prakash, Head of M&A Insight and Deal Origination, Deloitte
• The Private Equity Investor; what’s our worth and are we here to stay?

10:10 Getting deals done in the UK mid-market

• Focus on deals £200-1000m
• What challenges do these deals present?

Questions & Answers

10:45 Morning Coffee & Networking Opportunity

11:05 Valuation in the Mid-Markets
Doug McPhee, Partner – Global Head of Valuation Services, KPMG
Heather Gray, Partner – UK Head of Valuations, KPMG

• Key issues surrounding the mid-market
• Latest ideas and trends
• Case study examples

Questions & Answers

11:40 Financing Deals in the Mid Market
Dave Rome, Managing Director, Head of Loan Markets, UK, RBS

• The availability of bank finance
• What is the universe of lenders
• Debt diversification
• Trends in the market
• Market outlook

Questions & Answers

12:15 How to find overseas buyers
Lord Leigh of Hurley, Senior Partner, Cavendish Corporate Finance

• Current level of interest in UK buyers from overseas buyers
• Why seek an overseas buyer?
• Why would an overseas buyer be interested in your business?
• How to find a premium buyer
• Problems in dealing with overseas buyers
• Local knowledge vs London research
• Financing for overseas purchasers

Questions & Answers

12:50 Lunch & Networking Opportunity

14:05 Achieving Success with Mergers & Acquisitions
Stephen Rigby, Partner – Performance Improvement, Grant Thornton UK LLP

Operational aspects of:

• Due Diligence
• Integration & Separation
• Synergy
• Benefits Realisation

Questions & Answers

14:40 Trends for Mid-Market LBO’s: A Ratings Agency Perspective
Cécile Durand Agbo, Senior Director – Leveraged Finance, Fitch Ratings

• Credit Quality: Stabilisation
• Leverage Levels 2011 – 2014
• Defaults: Where are we now?
• Recoveries: Recent developments and prospects

Questions & Answers

15:15 Afternoon Tea & Networking Opportunity

15:35 European Done Deals in the Mid-Market
Jim Murray, Director – Corporate Finance UK, PwC

• Focus on Deals between £50m and £500m
• Key deal themes
• Hot sub-sectors

Questions & Answers

16:10 MBO’s & the Mid-Market team: Raising Finance and Structuring the deal
Tim Farazmand, Managing Director, LDC

• A representative from the private equity firm
• A representative from the management team that the PE firm backed

16:45 Mid-Market Commercial Property Transactions
(This session is a work in progress and will be fine-tuned once a speaker is confirmed)

Questions & Answers

17:20 Chairman’s Closing Remarks

17:30 End of conference