Hello Rainmakers,
A rum old selection of deals from around the country this week, and a timely jibe at private equity ownership in professional services from MHA’s charming CEO Rakesh Shaunak, and a funding round which attracted Steven Bartlett, Mark Zuckerberg, Claudia Schiffer, Maria Sharapova and will.i.am.
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A marquee deal and evidence of a strong appetite for good businesses was how one adviser described the sale of a stake in Manchester-based property software business Street Group, which has taken investment from private equity investor Hg Capital, in a deal that values the business at £200m, and provides a 4.4 times return on exiting investor PXN (formerly Praetura Ventures).
The business was founded in 2015 by siblings Heather and Tom Staff as an AI-native, real-estate software business “designed to disrupt and displace the incumbents in the UK estate agency market”.
In the year to the end of December 2025 the business made revenues of £16m and £1.29m in pre-tax profits.
Heather and Tom Staff, whose parents ran an estate agency business, said: “In Hg we have found a partner who shares our long-term ambition, our product focus, and brings genuine depth of experience and operational expertise in scaling software and AI businesses. “
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Devon-based pet food maker Forthglade has been acquired by Assisi Pet Care, marking an exit for IK Partners, which took a majority stake in the business in 2020.
Under IK’s ownership, Forthglade doubled revenues, expanded manufacturing capacity and built out its digital commerce platform.
Now Assisi is paying for that growth trajectory, adding Forthglade to a portfolio that includes Yakers, Burns, Hollings and HiLife.The Wind Point Partners-backed group clearly has an appetite for more.
Neko Health has checked its own vital signs and the results are looking pretty healthy, with the Birmingham-based health tech firm landing a £520m funding boost to fuel its global ambitions.
The preventative healthcare company, which opened its first Birmingham clinic earlier this year, has raised the bumper investment to expand into the US and keep developing its technology that aims to catch health problems before they become headaches.
Its 60-minute health scan uses sensors and blood analysis to collect millions of data points, giving customers a detailed snapshot of their health – from skin checks to markers linked to heart disease and metabolic risks.
The funding round attracted a star-studded set of backers, including Steven Bartlett, Mark Zuckerberg, Claudia Schiffer, Maria Sharapova and will.i.am – proving Neko has plenty of investors willing to put their money where their health data is.
With more than 100,000 people already scanned across the UK and Sweden, Neko is hoping this latest cash injection keeps the business in rude health as it takes preventative healthcare to a global stage.
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Banyan Software, which buys and develops growing software businesses worldwide, has swelled its already impressive global portfolio by scooping up York-based Simunix Holdings. Simunix, founded in 1998 by John Lewis, is a provider of people and business searches, ID verification and data software for public and private sector organisations. Its technology is used by UK police forces as well as logistics, financial services and compliance organisations for identity verification and geo-location.
Banyan Software, founded in 2016, now operates more than 100 portfolio companies across North and South America, the UK, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Lewis said his firm had spent more than two decades building systems which public and private sector clients rely on. He added Banyan had stood out as a candidate to buy the business due to its long-term mindset and its respect for Simunix’s core values.
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Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has acquired Glasgow-based Greaves Sports.
The Gordon Street store will continue to operate under the Greaves brand, which has a history dating back to the 1930s.
Meanwhile, a bidding war is developing for Edinburgh-headquartered oil and gas extractor Capricorn Energy.
Earlier this week a stock exchange update confirmed a second bid for the business, with Samos Energy stating a possible cash offer of 381 pence per share.
At the start of this month, Genel Energy tabled a takeover worth $4.74 in cash for each share, making the deal worth approximately $360m on a fully-diluted basis; equivalent to around £270m.
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It was interesting that Rakesh Shaunak, chief executive of MHA went out of his way to talk about the contrast between the private equity backed model and the success of the IPO – describing it as an “encouraging validation of the model we set out at IPO”.
Revenues were up 12% to £251.3m from £224.1m last year and adjusted profit before tax was up 7% to £39.1m (FY25: £36.3m).
“Our model is deliberately different from the widely adopted private equity-backed route in the professional services sector. It preserves the ownership mindset and accountability of our partner group, aligns partners interests with shareholders, provides a clear path for our people to participate in our future growth and gives us the flexibility and the financial independence to invest for the long term. That balance of entrepreneurial drive, public market discipline and access to growth capital is central to how we intend to build MHA.”
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Having now completed the Rainmaker events in the West Midlands, North West and Yorkshire, we have also now announced dates and an opening for entries for the East Midlands event on the 5th of November in Nottingham and the South West event on the 26th of November in Bristol.
Last year the events sold out, so book early to secure your table.
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