Thames Valley: HSBC, Connection Capital and Leumi ABL win top funding awards

HSBC, a serial winner at the Thames Valley Deals Awards, was once again the victor in the Bank of the Year category last night.

The ‘most active and most hungry bank in the region’ was just one of a stack of nominations from advisers, lawyers and customers for HSBC, pre-eminent bank for acquisition finance and growth funding in the region, based on deal volume and value.

With more than 60 deals completed with an aggregate value of £3 billion, highlights included Xtrac, Hogg Robinson, Ti Fluid Systems, Roc Technologies, Xeretec, and XP Power.

Connection Capital was the winner of the Private Equity Firm of the Year.

Five new Thames Valley investments and two exits meant that Connection was much more visible in the region in 2017, and this has continued with the recent recruitment of Reading-based Mark Snaith. Last year was record-breaking for the PE house, and exits included Farnham-based Team Sport Racing, delivering a four-times return.

Leumi ABL was once again winner of the Alternative Lender of the Year.

Leumi ABL has once again worked closely with, and provided ABL facilities to, mid-market businesses in a range of transaction scenarios. They include Cash Processing Solutions, a Basingstoke-based business which received a £5m ABL facility following its acquisition from De La Rue. In the year in total, Leumi completed 10 transactions incorporating private equity, with an aggregate value of £88m.