LAVA Advisory Partners, the London-based mid-market M&A advisory firm, has secured £8m from Beechbrook Capital to fund its next phase of strategic growth.
Beechbrook is a specialist provider of finance to SMEs across Europe.
LAVA considered a range of funding options before choosing a strategic financing partner and structure that allows it to remain 100 per cent employee-owned, deliberately avoiding equity investment that would ultimately be tied to a future sale or exit.
The funding will support LAVA’s continued investment in its three-pillar growth plan: partner-led sector expertise, international expansion and futureproofing the firm’s operational infrastructure.
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The recent promotion of Tom Rowe-Jones, the first LAVA partner to be promoted from within the business, is part of its plans to grow its partner base through a combination of internal progression and external recruitment.
LAVA will also invest further in its premises, processes and support functions as it enters its next phase of growth.
Simon Woodcock, partner at LAVA Advisory Partners, said: “We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved in our first five years. The team, the clients, the values we’ve established in such a short time have given us a rock-solid foundation for growth.
Simon Woodcock, partner at LAVA Advisory Partners
“With our plan for the next five years underway, we’ve set ourselves ambitious goals around our strategic pillars, and with the support of an institutional investor like Beechbrook, it’s full steam ahead.”
Elliot Gargan, investment director at Beechbrook Capital, added: “LAVA has a clear and consistent view of where the business is going, supported by a strong market opportunity and a leadership team with the experience and determination to deliver its plans.
“The momentum around the firm is supported by a clear strategy and a properly structured growth plan. That, along with our past interactions, gives us confidence in the business and makes LAVA a compelling firm for Beechbrook to support.”
Hamish Martin, partner at LAVA Advisory Partners, commented: “We have always tried to run LAVA in the way we would advise our clients to run their own businesses.
“Having reviewed the options as carefully as we did when establishing the EOT, we chose funding that supports our ambitions while preserving both our independence and our employee ownership structure, and allowing us to keep the people at the centre of the process.”
LAVA recently appointed Tom Rowe-Jones as its fourth partner and earlier this year was named one of the UK’s top consulting firms for Mergers & Acquisitions by Consultancy.uk.
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