Corbett Keeling is a leading UK Corporate Finance boutique with 20 years transaction experience and a member of the world-wide network of M&A advisors, Globalscope. Equiteq is a consulting sector merger and acquisition specialist, providing both growth advisory and M&A transaction services to the global consulting industry.

Nick Kent, former CEO and now vice-Chairman of Alpha said:

“We were very pleased with the support we received from Corbett Keeling and Equiteq. They were very knowledgeable about our industry, helped us build a compelling value case for an investment by Baird, and managed our process very effectively and diligently to achieve an excellent result for all.”

This deal is a good example of the resurgence of Private Equity (PE) interest in consulting firms with a strong growth history. Alpha attracted 8 offers from the PE community and the shareholders chose Baird because of the flexibility of the deal structure, the financial resources they could make available and the support that Baird offered the management team in taking the company to the next stage of growth.

Chris Harper, Managing Director at Baird said:

“I will join the board, but Alpha will remain an independent company and continue its operations as a leading consulting firm to the asset management industry in Europe. Our investment will not change the company’s culture, or high quality focus on its clients, however it will enable it to broaden its services and expand into new markets like the USA. Many thanks to Alpha’s advisors on this transaction, Corbett Keeling and Equiteq, the whole process was as painless as it could be, which is a great testament to the quality of their advice and input.”

For more information and media enquiries, contact

Jim Keeling of Corbett Keeling on +44 (0)20 7626 6266 or visit www.equiteq.com/report to download the Global Consulting M&A Report.