Dunedin has won the award for ‘Private Equity House of the Year’ at the M&A Awards 2014, which recognised the key M&A deals and dealmakers of 2013. The judges commended Dunedin for its strategy of increasing the value of its investments through acquisitions. Dunedin was also praised for its successful exits and its flexible approach to financing which has allowed it to steal a march on its rivals. Dunedin backed CitySprint also scooped the award for ‘Deal Maker of The Year.’
The ‘Private Equity House of the Year Award’ was open to all private equity houses that made acquisitions or exits in the mid-market during 2013. The judges assessed the investments made, funding structures used, and prices paid, as well as the contribution of the private equity house to increasing the value of its portfolio companies.
Shaun Middleton, managing partner of Dunedin, comments: “We are really pleased to be honoured with this award which acknowledges the hard work of all the individuals in our team in 2013. It was an incredibly busy year for Dunedin in which we closed the £300 million Dunedin Buyout Fund III in July, significantly in excess of our target. We completed two investments– the £43 million buyout of Trustmarque Solutions in June and the £90 million buyout of Kee Safety in December. We had two exits - etc.venues and Practice Plan, which realised money multiples of 3.2x and 2.8x respectively. Our portfolio companies also completed eight bolt-on acquisitions in 2013.
“We strengthened the team with the appointment of Andrew Davidson as an analyst and are very proud that one of our partners, Giles Derry, was appointed as Chairman of ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty in May, as the first faculty Chairman from the private equity industry. “