The tax and corporate finance teams at West accountancy group Bishop Fleming, which has an office in Bath, are celebrating their most successful year yet having completed just over 20 transactions worth in total more than £200m.
The team’s latest deal involved the sale of Asteral, the UK’s leading outsourcing of high-cost medical equipment such as scanners to the NHS.
Bishop Fleming advised Reading-based investment firm Brook Henderson Group on the sale of its controlling stake in Asteral, also based in Reading, to Pantheon Holdco, a company backed by private equity giant Permira. 
Bishop Fleming’s lead partner on the deal, Paul Morris – a tax partner in the firm’s Bath office – said: “This deal underlines the success and strength of our corporate finance and tax teams.”
Other recent deals have included the buyout of the luxury travel group ITC backed by Paul Pinder – the former head of Capita; the acquisition of Go Entertainment Group by AIM-listed Litebulb Group; fund-raising for Exmoor Ales; the acquisition of Cornerstone Lifestyle Planning and Hopkinson Associates by Succession Group; and the buy-out of charity funding specialist Woods Group.
Corporate finance team head James Finnegan said: “We are reaping the benefits of an improving corporate transactions market, and our investment in specialist advisory teams throughout our network of offices.
“Each of our offices – in Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Truro and Worcester – now has corporate finance and tax specialists in place. We all work together to deliver the best outcomes for clients wanting to buy, sell, or transform their businesses.”
He acknowledged Bishop Fleming’s membership of Kreston International – the global network of independent accountancy firms – as contributing to its success.
“It has provided access to buyers and sellers for our clients,” he said. “Without doubt, a stand-alone accountancy firm could not compete with this global capability.”
