“I came across Cooper Parry some years ago when I was part of a management buyout of the business in 1987. We did this with the assistance of Prior & Palmer, who then merged with Cooper-Parry to form Cooper Parry Prior & Palmer. So, if you think Cooper Parry Corporate Finance is a mouthful, imagine trying to say that!
We continued to ask for business and tax advice from the firm and got to know the corporate M&A people. For a while they would ask “What are your plans for the future?” at all our meetings. Eventually I thought… “I ought to be making a sale. Let’s have a chat.”
We got together, talked about the possibilities and Andy said he knew someone who was interested. We got in touch with the buyer, did a marketing exercise, created an invitation to tender and an IM and then we kicked off the process. We considered others. But we always had a strong leaning towards Cooper Parry Corporate Finance.
They knew a lot about us. The wider firm handled our tax. They had a comprehensive understanding of our business and had shown they were interested in us as people.
The firm’s facilities were very useful too. We were able to meet at the firm’s airport offices to meet prospective buyers. Andy, the team and I would also have strategy meetings together where we’d work out what was best for us and the business.
Also, we really appreciated keeping it confidential until after the work was done. Keeping everything confidential meant none of the existing team was stressed, upset or worried. It meant we carried on trading perfectly well. That in itself is some kind of art.
Sally and Niall looked after things on a daily basis. They were very attentive, helpful and responsive. The buyer due diligence was handled very swiftly, and we moved on to a rapid conclusion on the deal. They introduced us to people we could trust. This was very important to us as we wanted to find an appropriate business – some of our staff had been with us for 30 or 40 years. I needed to be able to look them in the eye and say, ‘It’s in great hands”.
