Finance Monthly - August 2023

Transaction Reports Finance Monthly. 72 About the Deal Quercus Corporate Finance advised the shareholders of Future Industrial Services (FIS) on the sale of the company to waste and resource management group, Augean. FIS is a Liverpool-headquartered provider of hazardous waste management and specialist industrial services with branches in Rugby, Hull, Plymouth, Honiton and Berwick. The firm’s client base includes government bodies, major utilities and national and multinational corporations, and its operations extend across five waste processing, treatment and recovery sites – among them the UK’s only mercury recovery facility. Acquired by Ancala Partners and Fiera Infrastructure in October 2021 in a £390 million deal, Augean is a Wetherby-based group that boasts 23 sites across England, Wales and Scotland. FIS chief executive David Lusher lauded the combination of the two companies in a statement. “I am incredibly proud of the FIS team and their clear focus on making us a better business for our customers, investors, employees and the environment,” he said. “It is important that the company we have built up together continues to flourish and grow. That ambition has culminated in becoming part of the Augean Group today.” Quercus Corporate Finance advised the FIS shareholders with a team led by partner Mark Whelan and associate partner Neil Giles. Advisors to FIS: An Interview With MARK WHELAN Quercus Corporate Finance AUGEAN Acquires FIS Please give us some background into this transaction and the role that your team played. Quercus acted as joint M&A advisers to FIS and NorthEdge, alongside EY Manchester, on the sale of the company to Augean. This involved preparing the business for sale, identifying and engaging with buyers and negotiating an agreed deal. I had a prior relationship with David Lusher and Colin Stirling, FIS CEO and Chairman respectively, for a number of years and helped David to put together the MBO when David and NorthEdge acquired the business in 2017, so it was a real pleasure to have the opportunity to work with them again. Conversely, this was our first sale for NorthEdge and I am extremely grateful to Andy Ball and John Hammond for trusting us with this important exit.

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