Nick Davis featured in Finance Management article on startup M&A trends

Comparing the current venture capital landscape in the UK to mainland Europe, Nick said: “In Germany, company equity is like the crown jewels and tends to be held longer but there are lots of early-stage US companies taking on private equity, especially around Silicon Valley,” he says. “We are also seeing firms increasingly looking at alternative finance such as mini-bonds to grow their businesses. These are owners who don’t want to sell to the big guys. But for every one of them, you have the owners who don’t have the size and scale to do it on their own or who have shareholders who are ready to sell. PE can come in and pay off their mortgage and school fees.”

He was also asked about the role of serial entrepreneurs in encouraging faster exits, to which he commented: “They are very good at creating an idea. But then the actual running and growing of a business becomes mundane. They look to pass it on and focus on a new idea,” he states. “Deciding when to sell is a very specific thing for each business. It can depend on the needs of the owner and the shareholders looking to cash in or de-risk themselves. But I don’t think UK entrepreneurs are in more of a rush to sell up than in other nations.”

The full version of the article is available here.