Success stories 

Taper relief deadline deal
The deadline for the removal of business taper relief and the 10% rate of capital gains tax saw the midnight oil burning up to April 5th 2008, at Brebners.
One of the deals completed was the sale of a majority stake of our client who is one of the world’s leading luxury goods companies, and one of the foremost jewellery designers.
The sale price was £4.8m negotiated over a lengthy period. Brebners was very much in the forefront of the negotiations which included detailed discussions of the terms of ongoing licenses for IPR as well as the design and employment contracts relating to the continued involvement of our client.
Chief Executive Partner, Simon Cryer, led the team assisted by Tax Partner, David Taylor, and one of our Managers, Matt Davis. “It was quite a difficult deal to conclude since the purchaser did not fully understand the way UK based deals are structured, and needed some persuading that his original offer was far too low in the light of recent results”. Brebners worked alongside Edge Legal who commented on completion “thank you so much for all your help and involvement. We could not have coped without you”.
Mergers, sales and acquisitions are usually the key events in an entrepreneur’s career. We are experienced in helping and please discuss any moves in that direction with your usual Brebners contact, at an early stage.

Viatrade acquire Eurokey Property
Our team led by Martin Widdowson performed the financial due diligence, at the request of the board, during Viatrade's share exchange acquisition of Eurokey Property.

Brebners advise on acquisition

February 2008 saw the completion of the purchase by clients of a majority interest in a Lancashire manufacturer of gasholders. The acquisition was accompanied by substantial lending facilities from the client’s Pension Fund.

Simon Cryer from Brebners, planned the structure of the deal and prepared much of the related documentation, liaising between purchaser and vendors. He also assisted in the employment of the new financial director for the acquired company.

Louisiana Oil and Gas Plc

We have acted as Auditors for this company since it was incorporated three years ago.  The company owns and operates oil and gas fields in Louisiana.

In March 2007 we acted as Reporting Accountants and assisted the company in obtaining admission to PLUS Markets.  We continue to act as Auditors.

Pathway One Plc

We have acted for this company which was previously a VCT but is now an IT based investment vehicle for a number of years.  In May 2007 we acted as Reporting Accountants and assisted the company in obtaining admission to PLUS Markets.  The company has utilised the funds raised to acquire a number of software distribution and operation rights.

Corporation Finance Diploma

John Craig and Martin Widdowson, partners in our Corporate Finance team have achieved the ICAEW Corporate Finance Qualification and are entitled to utilise the designatory letters C.F.

The Institute believe this is a world leading qualification in Corporate Finance that will become a pre-requisite to such work in the future.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Brebners have been successful in being listed on the Bank’s panel of approved firms to carry out financial due diligence as part of their lending decision.

We have successfully completed our first two reviews for the Bank.

Desk-Top Finance Due Diligence

We have been engaged by one of our large clients to prepare desk-top due diligence on a listed company as part of their ongoing acquisition program.

Brebners have advised on the successful acquisition of Typhoon Housewares Ltd from the Administrative Receiver for £1.8m. Our client, Peter Battersby, previously sold the business 3-4 years earlier, and is delighted to re-acquire this household name. The deal included purchase of the US business, which has now been resold to new managers. We conducted the negotiations in San Francisco assisted by local lawyers, who are fellow members of IGAL, the international network of accountants and lawyers to which we belong.

Centric Telecom, the leading UK provider of in-building communications solutions to landlords and property companies, has been acquired by Adapt Group, an independent Virtual Network Operator for a cash consideration of £6.25 million from Alchemy Partners.

Brebners dealt with tax desktop due diligence on behalf of the Adapt management, advising on the financial assistance whitewash procedures and giving the Adapt management general business advise in relation to the restructuring of the Group.

David Taylor and Tom Smith led the tax team with John Chamberlain overseeing the financial whitewash. FirstCapital acted as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders, including Alchemy Partners, in this transaction.


Brebners have recently concluded the sale of "Who wants to be a Millionaire" on behalf of clients who created the programme ten years ago.

Chief Executive Partner, Simon Cryer and Senior Tax Partner, David Taylor worked closely with the clients' lawyers and other advisors, and with Celador the producers to achieve a price in excess of £100m.

David Taylor says "this was the most complex deal we have ever been involved with. The Sale and Purchase Agreement ran to over 200 pages and only by working in tandem with the lawyers were we able to achieve such an excellent result for the clients".

Simon Cryer was delighted with the deal. "It shows how working as a team can be so beneficial for clients. The personal attention that David and I were able to give to the paperwork would have only been possible in a mid-tier firm and we were able to negotiate on behalf of our clients who were quite happy to trust our judgement based on the strong relationship we have built up with them over the years".

MBO at Margolis Group
June 2006 saw the successful completion of the MBO at the Margolis Group. Funding was by way of bank and venture capital mezzanine finance.

Brebners' played a crucial role including resolving a number of complex tax issues that complicated the transaction.

Brebners helps ensure MBO is a success
Over a period of 50 years Concrete Repairs Limited has grown from a small waterproofing and concrete repair business into a major multi-disciplined national repair and refurbishment company.

On 30th June 2006 the company entered what Managing Director Tony Rimoldi regards as the next and most exciting phase of the company following the successful completion of the MBO.

Brebners, led by partner John Craig, was instrumental in supporting the management team during this process through the provision of strong financial models, sound advice and clear communication of the implications and requirements once the deal had been completed.

Owners of GW Chemicals Ltd reap benefits of 30 year relationship with Brebners
The sale of GW Chemicals Ltd to Zenith Hygiene Group plc for £6m represented the culmination of a relationship spanning three decades between the vendors and Brebners.
The strength of the relationship and the resulting in-depth knowledge of the business played a key part in ensuring a highly successful outcome for a very happy client.

The Brebners' team, led by Simon Cryer, was influential in structuring the deal to maximise the sale price (twenty five times earnings) and minimise the tax liabilities.

£59m acquisition for Belgian shipping group
We have completed tax and accounting due diligence for our client, a significant Belgian shipping group, in connection with the acquisition of a port facility and ancillary equipment including 4 RORO (Roll on/Roll off) vessels for a consideration of £59M. We are now auditors and tax advisors to the acquired group.

$13.05m disposal to US SEC registered company
We provided corporate and taxation advice to a client in the "media sector" in connection with its disposal to a US SEC registered company for $13.05M

Admission to OFEX for Irish technology
We assisted our client, an Irish technology company, in obtaining admission to OFEX. We advised on the preparation of its business plan and cash flow projections and acted as Reporting Accountants and also provided general strategic business advice.


Brebners advises on acquisitions by Sexual Health Group
We have acted for Sexual Health Group for some time and assisted when they were admitted to the OFEX market.

As part of their expansion programme Sexual Health Group made an offer to acquire certain companies within the Sutherland Group. We identified a number of potential tax issues which we were able to advise on and obtained the required Inland Revenue clearances so that the acquisition was entirely tax efficient. This work was carried out by our specialist Tax Department, led by David Taylor.


Our tax partner David Taylor, who worked with Inland Revenue from 1961 to 1969, acted as tax advisor to a recently created VCT. He has advised on EIS tax status on various enterprises, both start-ups and established businesses. As part of this he negotiated the requisite Inland Revenue clearances. A complicated demerger was effected to facilitate venture capital investment in a specific part of the business. He has set up various share schemes through the EMI arrangements introduced in the Finance Act 2000. We were retained to advise on tax structures on trade sales to fully listed companies including the maximisation of the capital gains tax taper relief. He recently agreed a complicated non-UK domicile status for an individual in circumstances agreed by the Inland Revenue as novel.