It has been a tough year for corporate finance, so BDO Stoy Hayward has done especially well to scoop this award.

From the highs of 2006 and 2007, the M&A market has gone into freefall as the credit crunch has seen cheap debt dry up and high profile companies like Cadbury Schweppes forced to go for a demerger rather than a sale of its beverages arm.

The rocky market conditions saw BDO advising optician G C Bateman on finding a buyer for the ailing company, which had severe cashflow problems caused by the millstone of a final salary pension scheme, among other issues.

This M&A deal was special because it did not just achieve the end-game of finding a buyer, it also secured a return three times larger than expected for the deficit-battered pension scheme.

The deal was something of a coup as BDO managed to secure a purchase price 14 times higher than earnings before interest depreciation and amortisation for a business that was technically insolvent.
All staff except the board members were transferred as part of the sale, saving about 490 jobs that would have been lost if the administrators had been called in.

Kevin Dolan of the PPF said: ‘We are very pleased with the price achieved and both acknowledge and appreciate the amount of work BDO Stoy Hayward put into achieving the successful outcome.’

The whole process was wrapped up just 12 weeks after BDO was brought on board, with Vision Express snapping up the company 24 hours after putting in its final offer.