• Busworks had received a number of approaches from buyers over the years
• The change in working patterns as a result of the pandemic and the increased relevance of flexible serviced offices in this environment accelerated long term discussions from motivated buyers seeking strategically located serviced office capacity

• Opus worked closely with the Busworks shareholders supporting the preparations for the business sale and the engagement with potential purchasers, resulting in the selection of Workspace as a preferred buyer capable of maximising the exciting potential of the Busworks facilities and business
• In parallel with the sale process Opus worked with Daniel Watney to put in place new long-term leases for the Busworks premises to allow a buyer maximum long term certainty and flexibility

Cash sale of Busworks for £45 million to Workspace PLC.

• Lonza launched a competitive auction of its Specialty Ingredients business in 2020
• In particular, Opus assisted its clients on their evaluation of Lonza Specialty Ingredients as a platform for consolidation within the highly attractive microbial control sector

• Baringa developed a market-leading Climate Change Scenario Model currently used by clients with assets totalling more than $15 trillion
• Through its Aladdin platform, BlackRock seeks to set the standard for modelling the impacts of climate change for investors, banks and other clients, from which it generates significant licence revenues

• Established framework for partnership discussion, financial model, business plan, and valuation
• We negotiated a complex transaction to achieve a mutually beneficial relationship whereby:
  • The Climate Change Scenario Model becomes Aladdin Climate
  • Baringa and BlackRock will continue to develop the model together
  • BlackRock licences Aladdin Climate
  • Baringa provides consulting services to Aladdin Climate clients

• Both Baringa and BlackRock should derive significant strategic and financial benefit from the partnership, in a core strategic area of ESG

• The Electric Highway’s strategic footprint at all motorway service areas had resulted in approaches from a number of potential acquirers
• Ecotricity wanted an adviser to handle existing interest and reach new potential buyers, as part of managing a competitive sell-side process

• We introduced a broad range of additional buyers to the opportunity
• We ran a structured auction process which produced multiple bids at highly attractive valuations

• Successful sale to GRIDSERVE in partnership with Hitachi Capital. Going forward, GRIDSERVE will rapidly upgrade the network with state-of-the-art 350kW high power chargers
• The transaction will ensure the Electric Highway’s ongoing key position in enabling the UK to transition to electric vehicles, and continue the legacy that Ecotricity has built over the last decade
• The sale will allow Ecotricity to continue expanding its green energy business through re-investment into a host of innovative new projects

• Paine Schwartz Partners launched the competitive sale process of Verdesian in Q4 2020
• Verdesian is a uniquely positioned business in the NAFTA bio/specialty fertilizer space
• Opus assisted AEA on their evaluation of Verdesian as a platform for acquisition-led growth within this highly attractive sector

• Eelpower wanted to access institutional capital for the first time in order to rapidly expand its platform of battery storage assets
• Battery storage was an emerging asset class in the UK at the time, and relatively unfamiliar to most potential investors

• We worked with management to articulate in detail the investment characteristics of battery storage assets in the UK
• We approached a broad international audience of financial and strategic funding partners, educating counterparties on the UK battery storage market and the attractions of working with Eelpower
• We also worked closely with the company to optimise project-level contracting structures to best support infrastructure capital

• Successful transaction involving the sale to SUSI of 40MW of Eelpower’s existing storage assets and the establishment of a partnership to construct and operate a pipeline of new assets
• Each of the assets will benefit from innovative route to market contracts with major UK utilities, including Centrica

• DEXMA’s objective was to maximise the deployment and impact of their technology, and accelerate reduction in carbon generated by commercial real estate
• To achieve this, the company was seeking new, strategic ownership giving access to larger distribution channels, sales resources and cross-selling opportunities

• We managed an international, competitive process, which identified strong interest from strategic counterparts across building control and energy hardware, software and services businesses

• The result was a successful sale to Nemetschek, which offered strong alignment to DEXMA in terms of product offer and client base
• Access to greater distribution will deliver the company’s strategic growth aspirations

• The PiP board was searching for a new owner to support the company in its next phase of growth
• With many stakeholders involved in PiP, there were multiple interests to be represented

• Throughout the transaction, we understood the perspectives of all stakeholders and helped to coordinate them with the best outcome in mind
• We managed a competitive process and used our relationships to introduce relevant counterparties

• Our process identified Foresight as the optimal partner to support PiP
• The result was a successful transaction providing greater resources for PiP to grow and wider infrastructure exposure for Foresight