Principal Associates

Noventus Partners - Mitch Freinberg and Tom Bayne (Founders and Directors)

Noventus is a corporate finance advisory firm, regulated by the FSA, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. It has particular expertise in the creative and applied technology sectors.

Mitch Freinberg has many years of investment banking experience and has completed transactions involving all areas of mergers and acquisitions, equity fund raisings, debt financing, balance sheet management and hedging, corporate restructurings, film financings and leveraged buyouts. Formerly with Bankers Trust in New York and London, later with NatWest Markets/Hawkpoint Partners, he went on to be an original member of LongAcre Partners, the media and telecoms advisory boutique backed by the partners of Olswang law firm, then Managing Director of the Corsair Fund, before co-founding Noventus.

Tom Bayne is a highly experienced corporate financier with 15 years at Hawkpoint/Natwest Markets, spent advising clients across a broad range of industry sectors. During that time he was a key member of the Emerging Companies Team which focused on providing the full spectrum of financial and strategic advice to fast-growing companies with ambitious management teams. As a Corporate Finance Director at Hawkpoint he was involved in advising on and executing IPOs, acquisitions, disposals, debt and equity fundraisings, leveraged buyouts, take-privates and public takeovers.

Shamrock Partners - Keith Hamer (Founder)

Shamrock is an FSA regulated M&A advisory firm operating in the private equity market.

Keith Hamer has 35 years experience in corporate finance and M&A with Rothschild Intercontinental Bank, Chase Investment Bank and Credit Commercial de France. He also founded and spent 10 years with a private investment company, Middle East Associates S.A. sourcing direct investment opportunities in Europe, the Middle East and N. America. He left the City in 1991 to create Shamrock with partners in the Netherlands and raised and managed three private equity funds. Since 2002, Shamrock in the UK has focused on M&A advisory services.

Acrostic Limited - Ray Maxwell (Founder and Director)

Acrostic is corporate advisory company that provides customized advice to companies and investment management groups, to help them create and execute viable strategies.

Ray Maxwell has long experience in senior positions in the private equity industry. Formerly with PosTel and Granville. More recently, he was a Partner of INVESCO and a General Partner and Managing Director INVESCO Private Capital, responsible for all private equity investment and marketing outside of the Americas. He is Chairman of Core Capital VCT IV and V, serves on the board of Mesophotonics Limited and sits on a number of Advisory Boards including Eden Ventures and Merlin Bioscience in the UK, Procuritas in Sweden and Leman Capital in Switzerland. He sits on the advisory board of the London Business School's Private Equity Institute.

David Rigby Associates - David Rigby (Founder and Managing Director)

DRA is a management consulting business, operating internationally and focused on the Advanced Flexible Materials (AFM) sector, including technical textiles, nonwovens and new materials. It specializes in business and market research, strategic market planning, corporate strategy and technology policy. It has also published reports giving detailed forecasts of world markets for technical textiles and nonwovens.

David Rigby set up DRA in 1979 after spells at Arthur Andersen and in the textile industry. He is now a recognized authority on the worldwide AFM industry and has been consulted by many of the world’s largest specialty textile and fibre companies. His most recent experience includes producing company strategic plans, analyzing technical textile clusters and planning launches of new technical products. He is visiting Professor in Textile Management at the University of Manchester and an NED of British Textile Technology Group.

Individual Associate - Peter Kralj

Started career with Price Waterhouse where he worked in Sydney, Australia and later in London. Qualified as an accountant in 1975. While at PW specialised in tax. In 1979 moved to Bankers Trust in London where he headed up the newly formed Tax Based Finance and Special Products Group. At Bankers Trust was responsible for a number of major cross border and domestic tax based leasing deals and capital markets products, involving aircraft, real estate and power plants, totalling in excess of £1Bn. Was also involved in structuring special financing products for leveraged buyouts. Since 1991 has been a partner with Griffin Capital specialising in UK Private Finance Initiative (later PPP) deals with particular emphasis on the university student accommodation sector where he was responsible for completion of approximately £250m of construction and financing structures. In 2006 became involved in acquisition and financing of solar parks in the EU on behalf of the first UK investor and to date has completed the acquisition of approximately 25MW of such deals.

Individual Associate - Stephen Blank

Formerly partner in Binder Hamlyn, in charge of Corporate Finance at their Manchester office. Extensive industrial experience including Group FD of Swinton Insurance, acquired by Royal Sun Alliance. Very extensive recent experience in financial due diligence for funding institutions, fund raising for SME’s (debt and equity) as well as acquisition and sale advisory work. Former Chairman, Institute for Fiscal Studies North West branch. Presently part time Finance Director to growing SMEs ranging from start-up to well established. Also non-executive Chairman of an AIM-listed company, and formerly NED on private company boards representing local North West of England venture funds.