DMH Stallard acts on the sale of Brighton based company to global tax software provider Completing any M&A deal requires a great team (of advisors and clients), but achieving it in lock down, doubly so, explains Jonathan Grant The current M&A deals we are running demonstrate the value of trusted trading relationships between buyers and sellers. An existing relationship builds trust and confidence, and may lead to an offer being made if integration supports the long term strategic growth plans of the buyer. Buyers with established finance is also critical as it avoids the need to put in place new acquisition finance, which can be a cause of delay. Accordance are a Brighton business, started by Bart O’Toole in 2006, to provide quality VAT managed services to European companies. Accordance are part of the new wave of fast growing, highly skilled professional and technical businesses established in Brighton. Staff are drawn by the City as a place
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to live, proximity to London, and the lifestyle on offer. The buyer of Accordance was Sovos, Compliance LLC, a global private equity backed software supplier to Accordance, so the businesses know each other well. The deal was completed with no reduction in the headline price, some 8 weeks after the heads of terms were signed. Like most deals which complete quickly and with no reduction in price, preparation was the key, in this case over several years. Since the Company’s foundation, Bart, with his business partners Nick Hallam and David Stokes has built a quality team of professionals, operating from offices near the Station in Brighton.
DMH Stallard have worked with the Accordance team for some years, working alongside RSM Corporate Finance and tax teams over the last five years to prepare the business for sale. In that time various approaches were considered and rejected, including trade buyers and private equity investors. At a key stage along this path, Bart, Nick and David recognised that they could take the business through it’s next stage of growth, increasing the value of the business as they did so. New offices, investment in a management team and quality people, and a generous Share Option plan for senior staff, saw the business grow fast ahead of the sale. Critically, trading held up during lock down. Accordance has been a Sovos partner since 2018 and has implemented Sovos VAT Reporting software to provide technology-enabled compliance services to its clients. The acquisition comes at a critical moment for VAT countries, where businesses face a range of new regulatory mandates, from changes in periodic reporting to
