Grant Thornton agrees strategic investment with Cinven
Summary
Business and financial advisor Grant Thornton UK LLPs partnership has unanimously voted in favour of a strategic investment from international private equity firm Cinven, which will accelerate Grant Thorntons growth through additional capital and other resources. It has raised circa 50 billion funds.Malcolm Gomersall, CEO of Grant Thornton UK LLP, said: The story of our growth journey over recent years has been remarkable. Were incredibly proud of the firm we are today, and were ready to write the next chapter in our story.We recognise the opportunity that external investment can offer to help us further accelerate our growth, whilst retaining our partnership structure and ethos, and provide an outstanding experience for our people and clients. Were therefore looking forward to partnering with Cinven.We were attracted to their admiration of our commitment to high-quality service (particularly in our audit practice), our breadth of services, our client centric offering, the culture we foster at our firm and our growth plans.Maxim Crewe, Partner and Head of Cinvens Financial Services Sector team, added: Grant Thorntons reputation for quality, its stand-out culture and considerable financial performance in recent years provide a very attractive partnership proposition.Through this investment we see considerable opportunity to further enhance the quality of the firms service to clients and build and nurture high-performance teams. Were excited to work with the team as we support Grant Thornton to accelerate the next phase of its growth.The firm has also announced plans to introduce an Employee Benefit Trust arrangement for many of its people below Partner grade to benefit from Grant Thorntons long-term growth, comprising both cash and equity rewards.Also as part of the transaction, the firms partners have agreed to hold back a material amount of equity for future partners during the investment period thus protecting the future generation of partners over the next few years.The terms of the proposed transaction between Grant Thornton and Cinven remain confidential.