CogitalGroup, which was founded this summer by ex-Deloitte UK chief executive John Connolly and is backed by private equity group HgCapital, has announced a further acquisition with an investment in Baldwins as part of its move to create a new international firm in the advisory services market
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Baldwins has 27 offices across the UK employing around 650 people and has grown rapidly based on a series of acquisitions. It claims to have an annual turnover of £40m, which would rank the firm 19th in Accountancy's Top 75 Survey. However, filings with Companies House showed the firm took closer to £14.7m for the year to 30 June 2015.
Baldwins saId its existing management team will continue to lead and drive the firm's strategy of acquiring quality firms as it builds out its regional network of practices.
The Baldwins investment follows on from the announcement that HgCapital has agreed the acquisition of Visma BPO, a provider of outsourced accounting, payroll and HR services to 20,000 businesses in the Nordic region.
In July, HgCapital announced an investment in London firm Blick Rothenberg when it first announced its intention of creating a challenger firm.
Blick Rothenberg, Visma BPO and Baldwins will form the newly launched CogitalGroup with each business continuing with their existing brands. When the transactions complete over the next few weeks the group will have over 3,200 people based in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the UK and with a significant centre in Romania.
HgCapital said the pro-forma group revenue will be around £300m, nearly two thirds of which is derived from Visma BPO. Blick Rothenberg's estimated turnover is around £25m, while Baldwins gives its fee income as £40m, which would take the group's revenue to £265m.
The firm's branding and and independence will remain unaffected, HgCapital confirmed.
John Baldwin, director of Baldwins said: ‘We undertook significant diligence on who to work with in relation to our future investment partners and we are delighted to have the opportunity to join CogitalGroup and work with HgCapital. We are also pleased to welcome John Connolly onto our board who, with his undoubted background as former global chairman of Deloitte, will bring a level of expertise and experience necessary to achieve our goals and aspirations.’
Connolly said: ‘This is a major landmark for CogitalGroup and is part of our strategy to build a different kind of advisory business, underpinned by exceptional levels of innovation and client-focused service. We are extremely excited about our future and strongly believe that there is a place in the market for a firm focused on entrepreneurial businesses and high net worth individuals, delivering a personal service whilst harnessing the value-enhancing role of technology.
‘Baldwins is a company I have known and admired for some time and I am delighted that we now have the opportunity to work with John and his team. Along with our colleagues at Blick Rothenberg and Visma BPO, they will help take CogitalGroup to the next level.’
