Begbies Traynor acquires CVR Global in biggest buy yet
Insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor has acquired CVR Global in a deal worth £20.8m.
The move represents the largest insolvency acquisition Begbies Traynor has made to date, and provides a significant expansion of its scale in London and the South of England.
The share price of the corporate restructuring firm jumped 5.5 per cent today following news of the acquisition, to a price of 103.6p per share.
CVR is an independent firm of insolvency practitioners, forensic accountants and experts in other related complementary disciplines.
The firm’s specialisms include restructuring, financial distress, fraud and asset recovery, business disputes, and pension covenant reviews.
The business operates from seven UK offices in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton, Hove, Medway and Colchester; together with offshore offices in Gibraltar, Jersey, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands.
The team of 90 partners and employees will all join Begbies and enhance its existing network of offices and teams across London and the South of England. The CVR team will operate as Begbies Traynor and BTG Advisory – Begbies’ parent company – moving forwards.
Mark Fry, head of business recovery and advisory at Begbies Traynor said: “The acquisition of CVR significantly increases the scale and specialisms of our business recovery and financial advisory business across London and the South of England, whilst enhancing our overseas capabilities.
“The CVR team has a similar style and culture to our own and will be a highly complementary fit with our business.”
In the financial year ended 31 March 2020, CVR reported annual revenue of £9.5m (audited) and normalised pre-tax profits of £1.2m when reported on the same basis as the group (unaudited).
In the first six months of its current financial year, trading continued in line with this performance. Net assets were £4.1m (including net debt of £2.5m) at 31 March 2020.