Three senior corporate finance professionals have united to found a new consultancy which provides corporate finance advice to mid-market businesses across the UK, and internationally. Pura Advisory will leverage the partners’ extensive global networks to help clients in multiple sectors.
Pura Advisory’s approach is built on sector expertise spanning technology, media, consumer, retail, leisure, real estate and business services, with the founders having experience advising on deals from £10 million to over £1 billion. Hitting the ground running, the firm launched with a team of six, including three founding partners: Richard O’Donnell, Gbolahan Ladipo, and Dane Phillips.
O’Donnell previously led the European Consumer & Leisure teams at both Clearwater International and Canaccord Genuity and began his career at UBS. He has spent 21 years advising founders and private equity funds on transactions across the consumer and leisure sector, including the sale of Yew Tree Dairy to Müller and the sale of Hill Biscuits for LDC.
Ladipo meanwhile is a highly experienced senior banker, most recently at Deutsche Numis, delivering primary capital raises to power growth in private companies. Prior roles include executive director EMEA M&A at Nomura, and investment banking at UBS. He has an extensive track record of successfully originating and executing transactions across a wide range of sectors particularly in tech, media and real estate, with private and publicly listed companies, both in the UK and internationally. Notable deals, amongst many others, include advising on a $300m primary capital raise for Wiz, and advising Kyoto Distillery on its sale to Pernod Ricard.
Finally, Phillips has successfully advised on more than 30 capital raise, buyside and sell-side transactions in the media, technology and entertainment space over the last 15 years. Having started his mid-market career at professional services firm Grant Thornton, Dane has spent the majority of his career successfully operating within the boutique M&A advisory space, initially with ACF Investment Bank, before becoming a partner at NOR Capital.
Speaking on the launch, O’Donnell commented, “After more than 20 years in corporate finance, launching Pura Advisory is an exciting new chapter. We have a wealth of experience to work with businesses, entrepreneurs and private equity, at a time when deal volumes are growing, and private markets are in the spotlight. We believe Pura Advisory is well positioned to provide high-quality, partner-led advice to businesses across the UK.”
Pura Advisory has also partnered with Hatch Enterprise, a national charity that supports underrepresented entrepreneurs from across the UK to imagine, launch, and grow businesses with a positive impact on their communities. Looking ahead, Pura is committing 2.5% of revenue to Hatch Enterprise, and will also be offering mentorship and skill sharing to the entrepreneurs that are part of the programmes.
Hatch Enterprise Managing Director Rebekah Capon added, “We are delighted that Pura Advisory has chosen to support Hatch in this way, putting support for underrepresented entrepreneurs at the heart of its business model. This new partnership will enable us to provide the support needed to level the playing field for founders across the UK, building a better and fairer system for everyone looking to launch their own venture.”