Global investment bank GCA Altium has appointed two experienced professionals, Sabial Hanif and Luke Pedley, as Vice Presidents in its Midlands M&A team.
Based in Birmingham, the team has grown consistently since the office opened in January 2020 and now numbers seven dedicated M&A professionals in the region.
Hanif has been appointed as Vice President at GCA Altium and brings a wealth of experience in business services and technology, including marketing services, live events and the social media agency sector. He joins GCA Altium from the Deloitte M&A team in the Midlands. Hanif is also a qualified accountant and has worked at Cooper Parry Corporate Finance and PwC.
Pedley also joins the firm with seven years of experience in M&A advisory. He began his career at global accountancy firm RSM where he became ACA qualified, before moving to Dow Schofield Watts in Leeds. With extensive experience in buy-side and sell-side advisory for private equity and corporates, Pedley’s transactions have covered a range of technology and industrial sectors.
The news follows a strong pipeline of transactions and a number of deal completions led from the Birmingham office in recent weeks. This includes the sale of school software provider SchoolCloud to Tes Global and advising automotive technology provider Autofutura on its acquisition of West Midlands-based Chrysalis Loyalty.
GCA Altium has tripled the size of its Midlands team since it was established last year and has plans for further growth in coming months under the leadership of Managing Directors Jeremy Harrison and Jamie Hope.
Jeremy Harrison and Jamie Hope say: “It’s excellent to welcome Sabial and Luke to the GCA Altium Midlands team. They have impressive sector expertise across technology, industrials, digital and media that will be highly valuable in the regional market. We are seeing a real spike in appetite for deals in the Midlands as the vaccine is rolled out more widely, and our pipeline reflects that. We are delighted to have secured such high-quality talent since we established the office in January 2020 to serve our client base to the highest possible standard.”
Phil Adams, CEO of GCA Altium, adds: “It’s an extremely active period for GCA Altium both in the UK and internationally, with more than 30 deals completed in the first few months of this year in Europe alone. We have experienced a great reception to opening in the Midlands since our launch last year. Following the strong start of our team there, we are committed and excited to be able to invest further in our people and infrastructure in the coming months.”
