Cavendish

Cavendish completes its largest transaction with the £300 million cash sale of Cannon Avent Plc

Cavendish Corporate Finance, the UK's leading independent specialist advisor to vendors of businesses, has recently completed the largest transaction in the history of the firm, with the £300 million cash sale of Cannon Avent Group Plc, the market leading, high quality baby care products manufacturer, to Charterhouse Capital Partners.

3i owned 21.6% of the business with the balance held by the Atkin family. The finalisation of the sale is conditional upon competition clearances which are expected shortly and upon completion, Edward and Celia Atkin will step down as managing directors.

In addition to Cannon Avent, Cavendish has also just negotiated the £21 million recommended offer for AYH PLC, a leading UK based project management and consultancy firm, from the international consultancy and engineering company Arcadis NV. AYH has worked on numerous prestigious projects including the construction of the Arsenal football club's new stadium.

Cavendish Managing Director, [Howard Leigh], commented: ''The £300 million Cannon Avent deal marks an important milestone for Cavendish; we have had a relationship with the Atkin family for many years and were delighted to help them achieve this very satisfactory result.

''With big name deals in the last six months like Etam, Smythson and Phase Eight, Cavendish is increasingly sought after for its vendor-only expertise. The market conditions also indicate that there has rarely been a better time than now to sell an SME business.''

Deals completed by Cavendish in 2005 include:

Phase Eight
Freightliner
JJ Barker
Smythson of Bond Street
Rural Solutions
Etam
Dorma
LEC Refrigeration

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