Vantis and BDO to carve up Numerica

Vantis and BDO Stoy Hayward are poised to close deals with a total value of £28m to acquire parts of consolidator Numerica.

Link: Numerica takes Grant Thornton client

Vantis has agreed a £15.8m deal to acquire Numerica’s entire share capital, and has already received ‘irrevocable undertakings’ from shareholders with a 30% stake in the business.

When the Vantis deal is confirmed, it will sell on Numerica’s offices in Bristol, Southampton and Manchester to BDO for £12.1m.

The deals, which require the agreement of the consolidator’s shareholders and partners, come as the company battled to turn around a pre-tax loss of £2.6m for the eight months to the end of last November.

Vantis chief executive Paul Jackson said that the deal would give the firm greater scope to win more clients in the mid-to-large market, and would take advantage of Numerica’s plans to reduce overheads.

‘We’d like to attract bigger clients, and we’ll look to combine our central services,’ he said.

Jackson confirmed that no office closures or redundancies were planned.

BDO managing partner Jeremy Newman said the acquisition would offer clients ‘greater breadth and depth of expertise’ and more development opportunities for BDO staff.

Numerica chief executive Peter Jenkins, who is set to step down with the rest of the board when the deal is finalised, hailed it as a ‘good opportunity for stakeholders’.

But he refuted claims that Numerica would be viewed as a failed venture.

‘Numerica went through difficult times, and the degree of overheads we have is high for our size of business. But the uncertainty is now over for our staff and clients.’