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  • 📈 £1.5bn Grab: Grant Thornton's Bidders Battle On!

📈 £1.5bn Grab: Grant Thornton's Bidders Battle On!

£1bn Boost Fuels UK Green Housing Push

October 17, 2024

This is Cliff Equity, the UK’s business newsletter that keeps you informed on what’s important in tech, business and finance in less than 5 minutes

In today’s stories:

  • £1.5bn Grab: Grant Thornton's Bidders Battle On!

  • £1bn Boost Fuels UK Green Housing Push

  • £14.6M Series A: Inforcer Powers Up MSPs!

The summary: With a £1.5bn stake up for grabs, Grant Thornton’s UK operations are attracting keen interest from top buyout firms, promising a thrilling turnaround for the firm as it steers away from past blunders towards brighter horizons!

The details:

  • Buyout Buzz: Cinven, EQT, and New Mountain Capital are in the running to purchase a piece of Grant Thornton’s UK operations, potentially fetching a hefty £1.5bn—let's hope they don’t trip over their own balance sheets!

  • Contenders Out: Permira and Carlyle have reportedly been cast aside, but don’t get too comfy—this shortlist could be more unpredictable than a game of British bingo.

  • Partner Power: With 200 equity partners having a say in the proceedings, this isn’t just a one-man show—expect some lively discussions over who gets the last biscuit!

  • Audit Adventures: After a few financial missteps and eye-watering fines, Grant Thornton has cleaned house, reducing its number of "public interest" clients. Now they’re focused on steering towards calmer waters—although they’re keeping the details hush-hush for now!

Why it matters: The bidding battle for Grant Thornton’s UK operations could shake up the accountancy scene, with £1.5bn at stake and plenty of financial heavyweights vying for a slice of the pie. After weathering a few storms—think fines that could make a sailor blush—Grant Thornton is finally charting a course towards steadier seas, much to the relief of its equity partners. If the chosen bidder plays their cards right, we might just see this firm transforming from a troubled ship into the pride of the audit fleet!

The summary: Barclays, Lloyds, and the government are teaming up to supercharge the UK's green housing revolution, with billions in funding to make homes warmer, greener, and far more affordable!

The details:

  • Barclays and Lloyds tag team for greener homes: Each will lend £500m, backed by £750m from the National Wealth Fund (NWF), helping social housing hit net-zero goals by 2030 – warmer homes, fewer bills!

  • Retrofit revolution: This is just the beginning of a £27.8bn NWF-backed mission to boost private investment and fuel growth across the UK. The endgame? Greener homes and happier residents.

  • Energy makeover in the works: With 39% of social homes lagging behind on energy efficiency, this plan could cut emissions and tackle fuel poverty – just in time for the 2030 EPC C deadline.

  • Financing the future: Barclays, Lloyds, and the NWF are leading the charge with attractive loans to retrofit homes, decarbonise the UK housing stock, and make life cosier for thousands.

Why it matters: With nearly 40% of social homes lagging in energy efficiency, this funding blitz means warmer homes, smaller bills, and a greener UK. By unleashing billions in private investment, Barclays and Lloyds are putting their money where the government's mouth is—finally tackling the nation's housing carbon footprint. It’s a win for the planet, your wallet, and even that old EPC rating everyone’s been trying to ignore!

The summary: Inforcer has just snagged £14.6M in funding to help Managed Service Providers streamline Microsoft security setups, enabling them to upsell new services and become the tech-savvy heroes their clients have been dreaming of!

The details:

  • inforcer just bagged £14.6M in Series A funding, led by Meritech Capital – the same folks who backed heavyweights like Salesforce and Snowflake. Not bad company to keep!

  • Their magic? Automating Microsoft 365 security setups for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), making them more efficient and giving them extra tools to upsell. Handy, since cybersecurity regulations aren't getting any simpler.

  • With a board boost from Meritech’s Tanner Bhonslay and Centrastage co-founder Christian Nagele, inforcer’s charging ahead to help MSPs ride Microsoft’s Secure Score-as-a-Service wave.

  • Since its 2022 launch, it’s been making waves globally, with top MSPs loving its rapid deployment and automated security offerings. A solid win for MSPs looking to go "MSP 2.0"!

Why it matters: With inforcer’s hefty £14.6M backing, MSPs can finally wave goodbye to the tedious days of manual Microsoft security setups—good riddance! This nifty tool not only streamlines security but also gives providers the chance to upsell snazzy new services, ensuring they don’t get left behind in the digital dust. It’s a jolly good time for MSPs, as they embrace the future and become the savvy security experts their clients didn’t know they needed!