We provide independent advice to management and private equity investors seeking to list companies on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market, Alternative Investment Market (AIM) or other European exchanges.

Close Brothers Corporate Finance is not a broker and so is completely free of the conflicts of interest inherent in the broking role. As an independent adviser, we are able to give our client and its shareholders the confidence that they are always receiving advice that is in their best interests.  We help guide clients through the complex IPO process, ensuring that they have the best advisory team for the IPO, engaged on the best possible terms.

The benefits of our service include:

• Performing an initial strategic review and optimisation of the investment case

• Outsourcing the time-consuming broker appointment process and utilising our detailed knowledge of each broker to ensure the client chooses the optimum one(s)

• Applying our latest intelligence on issues ranging from fee levels and syndicate structures, to relative performance of brokers, so clients always negotiate from a position of strength

• Reducing fees by negotiating using latest market knowledge with brokers and other key advisers, such as lawyers and accountants

• Designing incentive fee structures that result in the broker being truly motivated to outperform across a range of criteria that matter to the company and ensure that incentive fees only get paid if they are deserved

• Designing IPO syndicates that achieve the right blend of cost minimisation, efficiency of execution, research coverage and genuine competition amongst the banks

• Keeping the broker "honest" throughout the process, monitoring valuation and allocation of shares to minimise their temptation to favour the investing institutions over the corporate client

• Significantly curtailing the legal exposure of directors and shareholders by negotiating key warranty and indemnity terms

The core of our offering is using the leverage that management and/or private equity investors have in the process to strike highly advantageous terms when they are about to award the broking mandate.  This avoids the value leakage that typically happens later during the underwriting negotiation.

If you would like to discuss your objectives in confidence, please contact Richard Grainger, Chairman: