Gissings Advisory Services Ltd (United Kingdom) - Nov 2007

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01 November 2007

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Dunedin has led the £18m management buyout of financial services business Gissings Advisory Servies Ltd (GAS) from its retiring private vendor. Dunedin’s investment was supported by a £8m senior debt package supplied by Allied Irish Bank. Having invested successfully in the sector previously, Dunedin had been looking at the insurance intermediary space, when PricewaterhouseCoopers introduced it to GAS in July. Dunedin prevailed in a targeted auction process which included some trade players and financial buyers. The deal took six weeks to complete from exclusivity. Dunedin cited its relationship with management and the understanding of the sector as key to it winning the deal. The sticky nature of GAS’s revenue base – it has a 97% client retention rate – and the opportunities for consolidation in the flexible benefits consultancy market in which it operates attracted Dunedin to the deal. Additionally, the market for corporate benefits is growing with more companies offering packages above and beyond traditional health insurance to lifestyle-oriented benefits to their employees. The flexible benefits market is forecast to grow by 16% annually for the next five years. GAS is currently focused in serving clients in London and the South East and will look to expand its geographic remit to fuel growth.

Company

London-headquartered GAS was founded more than 25 years ago. It provides consultancy advice on flexible benefits, private medical insurance, life assurance, permanent health insurance, occupational health and employee wellness to more than 400 companies including many FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 businesses. In terms of market share, GAS is the fifth-largest UK corporate risk distributor and is in the top five UK corporate healthcare intermediaries with a blue-chip client base. GAS employs 57 people and generates profits of £2m on revenues of £6m.

People

Giles Derry led the deal for Dunedin. Peter Brophy arranged the debt on behalf of Allied Irish Bank

Advisers

Equity - Addleshaw Goddard, Andrew Carpenter, Christopher Taylor, Craig Rattray, Ed Jenkins, Greig Hutcheson, Hannah Grundon, Jifree Cader, Julia Davis, Michael Currie (Legal)Equity - Grant Thornton, Kelly Graves, Peter Allen (Tax)Equity - Intuitus, Richard Irwin (Technical/IT Advice)Equity - KPMG, James Greenwell, Jeremy Oakley, Pendar Ostovar (Commercial Due Diligence)Equity - The Quinn Partnership, Andrew Brown, Mike Stiles, Paul Quinn (Other Due Diligence)Management - Taylor Wessing, Tom Cartright (Legal)Vendor - PricewaterhouseCoopers, Andrew Backen, Chris Reyniers, Mark Speller (Corporate Finance)Vendor - PricewaterhouseCoopers, (Legal)