Charity puts its trust in the North with landmark acquisition

DTE Corporate Finance have assisted Shaw Trust, a £130m revenue national charity, in finalising their acquisition of the £90m turnover Prospects Group, an employee owned provider of skills, education and care and support to a variety of users in all walks of life. The transaction propels Shaw Trust into the top twenty five charities, by turnover, in the UK.

Shaw Trust is a national charity providing employment opportunities, skills development training and health and well-being services across the UK. This, coupled with the services provided by Prospects, means that the enlarged charity will now be able to help an even greater number of disadvantaged people at all stages of their life.

Commenting on the acquisition, Shaw Trust’s Chief Executive Roy O’Shaughnessy said: “This marks a very special day on our journey to transform the lives of one million young people and adults each year by 2022. We deliver services for a range of government departments and local authorities, and as a charity we add value to every service we deliver by investing back into the communities we serve.

I am delighted that Prospects has joined our Group. We deliver many complementary services and now, together, we can offer an even greater range of support to our customers.”

Nick Bell, Chief Executive of Prospects said: “Prospects is excited about joining the Shaw Trust Group. We have a very similar mission and values to Shaw Trust, and the merger of our organisations will enable us to create new opportunities and inspire more young people and adults a year to develop their potential.”

Having advised a number of clients within the sector in recent years DTE Corporate Finance, based in Manchester, were chosen by Shaw Trust to advise the charity in this transformational transaction.

Andy Humphrey and Stephen Moorcroft provided corporate finance advice to Shaw Trust. Andy commented “It has been a pleasure to advise Shaw Trust on this momentous acquisition. There is a great synergy between the two organisations with the Prospects offering allowing the significant acceleration of Shaw Trust’s strategic diversification and growth plan. We wish Shaw Trust every success in continuing to help transform people’s lives.”

Partner Caroline Litchfield and senior associate Ruth Hargreaves from Brabners provided legal advice to Shaw Trust.