10 March 2023
Leading independent M&A advisory firms BHP Corporate Finance and IMA Corporate Finance are collaborating and have officially changed their names to Translink Corporate Finance.
Translink, the leading mid-market corporate financial advisory firm, has over 300 experts covering more than 35 countries on six continents. It’s this international footprint of teams with deep local market knowledge and specialised sector expertise that enables Translink to identify M&A opportunities across the globe for clients.
Both Midlands-based IMA and Yorkshire-based BHP Corporate Finance are not new to Translink, having joined the group in 2007 and 2019 respectively and have partnered various Translink country offices on a variety of cross-border deals since.
Since joining Translink, the two firms have developed very close working relationships with global colleagues and specialists within the Translink network. The rebrand sees not only a more comprehensive reach across the UK, but also the union of 30 advisory specialists with collective sector expertise in the UK, including TMT (with extensive experience in SAAS, ed-tech, data and e-commerce), automotive, industrials, energy, and healthcare.
“Rebranding was the natural next step for us as we continue to develop our corporate finance proposition, with Translink forming an integral part of this,” says BHP Corporate Finance partner and now partner at Translink Corporate Finance, Andy Haigh.
Stuart Hands, Managing Director of IMA Corporate Finance and now a partner at Translink Corporate Finance, explains how the collaboration benefits both the respective firms and importantly, their clients. “This enables us to share pitches, experience, introductions and elevates the quality of work that we can execute. The bottom line is that we can leverage all of this as a key differentiator in the UK market and beyond,” he says.
Haigh agrees and says that both entities have a shared mindset in terms of doing high quality deals and adding value to clients. “This collaboration extends our footprint across the UK and will allow us to continue to cement the relationship with each other and with our clients going forward,” he says, adding that their complementary sector strengths further powers this rebrand.
Both IMA and BHP Corporate Finance were originally formed as independent corporate finance advisory firms, with BHP forming part of the larger full-service BHP LLP accounting and auditing firm.
The rebrand will not affect the wider BHP practice, which will continue to trade as BHP.
“The UK is a large market for M&A with both inbound and outbound activity levels being significant. Alongside supporting our outbound sell side work, there are many enquiries from Translink offices across Europe and beyond to support their clients to execute M&A in the UK that will see us continue to work across a wide range of projects,” says Haigh, “This collaboration allows us to deal with an ever-increasing flow of inbound inquiries on both buy and sell side”.
“Nowadays, business is expected to react quickly to opportunities, something which this collaboration certainly enables. We direct deals to those with the correct sector experience and local expertise, and do so quickly,” Hands says.
“Over the last few years, both IMA and BHP Corporate Finance have integrated into Translink Corporate Finance as key players within our global mergers and acquisitions operations. We are excited and proud about this rebrand that brings these multi-award-winning teams of corporate financiers under the Translink Corporate Finance brand,” says Tero Nummenpää, Chairman of the Board at Translink International.
Advising on and supporting UK deals will remain core to the Translink UK team, along with being able to identify and enjoy high quality, nuanced engagement with global buyers and investors to further cement global and cross-border deals.
