Smith Cooper has boosted its Corporate Finance team with the latest appointment of Darren Hodson, a prominent and highly respected figure in the business community, as Corporate Finance Partner for its Birmingham office.
Darren will be joining a team of eight corporate finance specialists based in various offices across the Midlands. In his new role, Darren will be using his 12 years of experience and broad skill set developed in previous roles including advising on sales, acquisitions, buy-outs, finance raising and strategic reviews to deliver best quality advice to businesses across the West Midlands.
John Farnsworth, Head of Corporate Finance for Smith Cooper commented: “We are delighted to welcome Darren to the team to further develop the excellent reputation for our Corporate Finance offering. Darren is an exceptionally talented corporate financier who has established a name for himself in the Birmingham market and indeed wider afield. He also shares our passion for providing the highest quality service to our clients and we are looking forward to working closely with him.”
During 2014 the team completed 25 transactions doubling their number of completions in 2013. These included acquisitions, sales and funding and involved a wide range of sectors and clients. Significant deals included Mel Morris’ acquisition of equity in Derby County Football Club, finance raising for MPS Care Group and sales to a range of buyers including Whitbread Plc and Kuwait-based KFG plc.
John added: “Whilst the team’s success has been assisted by an improving economy it mainly results from our innovative, client focused approach and rigorous deal management. The upturn in MBO transactions over the past year indicates welcome improvement in confidence by management teams and funders alike”.
Commenting on his appointment Darren said “I am thrilled to be joining such a high calibre firm as Smith Cooper and am relishing the opportunity to drive forward its Birmingham corporate finance practice.”
The firm also announced the promotion of Natasha Smith to Tax Advisory Partner with both appointments in effect from 1 April.