The KPMG Dealmaker Series Podcast Jo Sheerin

In this episode of our Dealmaker Podcast series, we delve into the exciting deal between Cocogreen and Circularity Capital, a specialist private equity firm investing in growth stage businesses in the circular economy. We talk to Cocogreen's Founder and Co-founder, Dr Sudesh Fernando and Thomas Ogden, as well as Claire Frangou, Director of Corporate Finance at KPMG UK.
Cocogreen is a leading global brand in coir substrates, offering sustainable solutions for crop growth using coconut coir, a natural fibre extracted from coconut husks. Founded in 2010, Cocogreen has become a trusted partner for suppliers seeking reliable and sustainable growth solutions.
 
In this episode, we explore the story behind the Circularity Capital deal and the challenges faced along the way. Dr Sudesh and Thomas Ogden share their experiences and offer valuable advice to business owners considering seeking outside investment or selling their businesses. Tune in to gain insights and inspiration from this exciting business journey.

In this episode of our Dealmaker Podcast series, we talk about the deal between Amazon Filters and investor, BGF.Jo Sheerin is joined by Neil Pizzey, Managing Director of Amazon Filters, and Surinder Matharu, from KPMG as they discuss the story behind the deal of the businesses, as well as the challenges they faced along the way.Amazon Filters is a 38-year-old filter manufacturer that supplies global process industries and was founded with the goal to provide creative solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing the process industry. Despite facing various challenges such as recessions and pandemics, the company has grown consistently over the years and now has revenue of around £36m with facilities in 3 countries. Neil Pizzey mentions the decision to bring in outside investor, BGF, to bring renewed ambition, increased rigour, and a fresh viewpoint to the company.Neil speaks about the journey of helping grow the family business from an eleven-person team making less than £1m in revenue when he joined, to the team of over 250 people with revenue of around £36m, which has become one of Europe’s leading filter manufacturers.We go behind the scenes of this exciting deal as Neil and Surinder share their experiences of the BGF deal, and provide helpful advice to business owners thinking about seeking outside investment or selling their business.

In this episode of our Dealmaker Podcast series, we talk about the sale of Zenergi to the mid-market private equity firm, ECI.
Jo Sheerin is joined by Graham Cooke, CEO of Zenergi, and Alex Hartley from KPMG as they discuss the story behind the sale of the business and the challenges they faced along the way.
Zenergi is an award-winning customer service company that specialises in energy and provides a range of services including energy procurement, contract management, and energy and carbon reduction solutions. As a partner to the UK Government, they work to promote new jobs and skills, encourage economic growth and prosperity, tackle climate change, and level up the UK as a whole.
Graham speaks about his journey of growing Zenergi from a small regional consultancy in Southampton to the team of 220 that is now one of the UK’s leading energy and environmental consultancies.
We go behind the scenes of this exciting deal as Graham and Alex share their experiences of selling the business, and provide helpful advice to others considering doing the same.

The story behind the deal.In this episode of our Dealmaker Podcast series, we talk about the investment in inclusion and diversity consultancy, Talking Talent, by sustainable investor, Bridges Fund Management, a private equity firm that invests in businesses supporting the transition to a more inclusive and sustainable economy.Talking Talent provides organisations with coaching and development programmes to create work environments that are inclusive, fair, and with opportunities for all. Advising the likes of Unilever and Coca-Cola, Talking Talent aims to coach the whole system on diversity, not just the individual, and have a focus on empowering under-represented talent.Jo Sheerin is joined by Emma Thorne, Partner at Bridges, and Helen Roxburgh, from KPMG, as they discuss the importance of ESG for the sale of Talking Talent. They share the challenges they faced during the sale of the business and provide valuable advice for anyone looking to do the same.We go behind the scenes of this exciting deal. Listen to the full podcast.

In this episode of our Dealmaker Podcast series, we talk about the sale of The Whisky Exchange to the world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, Pernod Ricard.
Jo Sheerin is joined by Sukhinder Singh, Founder of The Whisky Exchange, and Rob Baxter from KPMG as they discuss the decision to sell the business and the challenges they faced along the way.
The Whisky Exchange was founded in 1999, and grew from being a small shop in West London to the internet’s number-one specialist retailer of whisky and other spirits, now serving thousands of satisfied customers every week.
Sukhinder speaks about his journey from building the initial customer base to dealing with competition from companies like Amazon, and then deciding to sell the business he was passionate about.
We go behind the scenes of this exciting deal as Sukhinder and Rob share their experiences of selling the business, and provide useful advice to others considering doing the same.

The story behind the deal.  In the eighth episode of our Dealmakers Podcast series, we talk about the sale of Rockpool backed Outright Games to private equity firm EMK Capital. Outright Games is a family-friendly interactive video games publisher featuring well known characters such as Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol, PJ Masks, DreamWorks Spirit, & Jumanji. Set up as a family run business, they are the number one global publisher of children’s games on console.
Host Jo Sheerin is joined by Adam Whittaker, CFO of Outright Games and Ben Hutchinson, Investment Director at Rockpool as well as Nenad Simonovic and Ekrem Shahin from KPMG as they discuss the decision to sell and the challenges they faced along the way.
The gaming market reached over $160 billion last year and set to exceed over $200 billion by 2023, making it one of the fastest growing forms of digital entertainment.  We go behind the scenes of this exciting deal as Adam and Ben discuss how you maximise the value of a deal whilst finding the right partner for the future of the business.