Nik Askaroff is named the South East’s top dealmaker

EMC Corporate Finance’s founder and CEO, Nik Askaroff, has been named Dealmaker of the Year at the highly prestigious Insider South East Dealmakers’ Awards 2015.

Nik was presented with the coveted award – the premier trophy of the night – at a glittering ceremony held at the Copthorne Hotel, Effingham Park, Crawley. He is pictured above with James Bullock of category sponsor Brachers.

It rounded off a triumphant night for the Hove-based firm which also saw it commended in two others categories – Corporate Finance Advisor of the Year and Corporate Finance Advisory Team of the Year.

Judges said Askaroff had enjoyed a “stellar year”. They added: “As well as possessing a shrewd eye for successful dealmaking…it is Nik’s ability to bring deals from London to the regional corporate advisory community that sets him apart.”

It’s the second year running that EMC has walked away with one of the night’s top awards. Last year it won the Deal of the Year title for its work negotiating the sale of $100m freight forwarding and logistics company Bellville International Ltd to OIA Global of Portland, Oregon.

Highlight deals this year included the sale of Lewes illustrated publisher Ilex Press to the Octopus Publishing Group; the acquisition of Aspect Health Management by Posturite; the sale of Springs Smoked Salmon; the Solutions AV MBO; and the sale of Essex-based PaySuite Ltd to $3bn American corporation Intuit Inc.

Nik said: “Being named the region’s top dealmaker crowns what has been a terrific 12 months for EMC. It’s great to have the endorsement of our peers in the corporate finance and wider professional services sectors.

“But I am more pleased for all the business owners and directors who we have been, and are, able to help achieve their strategic goals either by maximising the value of their companies when they decide to exit, making well-planned acquisitions or negotiating refinancing arrangements.”

He added: “This year looks like being another excellent one on the M&A front, especially in the small and medium deals sector where we are particularly strong. We already have several good deals in the pipeline so I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to impress the Insider awards judges again next year.”

9 February 2015