Electric Business

Premier Asset Management and Miton have merged to create a group with assets under management of some £11.5bn. The all-share merger deal sees Miton shareholders receive 0.3 shares in Premier per share, valuing them at 56.7p, a premium of 38% on its last close price. Premier saw its AUM rise to £6.86bn as of 30 September 2018, with turnover up almost 20% to £48.8m.

CNH Industrial has agreed to take over farm management information systems (FMIS) provider AgDNA. The deal allows CNH customers and third-party users to profit from AgDNA's single point data integration, mapping and analytical tools.

HR services group AdviserPlus has acquired Working Transitions, an organisational change, career transition and tailored coaching solutions consultancy. Founded in 1993, Working Transitions has served over 1,000 clients, including FTSE 100 companies and government departments, across sectors such as financial services, manufacturing, retail and legal. The acquisition builds on AdviserPlus' acquisition of HR platform implementation firm Succeed in 2018 and its UK partnership with HR business analytics specialist HCMI. AdviserPlus employs more than 300 people across offices in Liverpool and

Warwickshire-based engineering specialist Ricor Global has acquired Walsall Pressings Company and D.R.B. Engineering (Walpres) for an undisclosed sum. The deal creates an £80m turnover group with seven factories distributed across the UK, Poland and Slovakia. Walpres manufactures automotive body pressings and assemblies for automotive OEMs and tier one suppliers. Ricor has called the acquisition a "transformational opportunity", augmenting its product capabilities and OEM customer base at the heart of the European automotive industry.

AFI-Uplift, a powered access platforms specialist that offers machine rentals and sales alongside training and health & safety courses, has bought Facelift (GB). The announcement, in tandem with a long-term financing arrangement with Pricoa Private Capital, is said to be worth c. £160m in total. Facelift reported revenues of £12m in 2018 and has a total rental fleet of 700 machines. The acquisition takes AFI-Uplift’s fleet to 7,500.

Environmental, engineering and technical services consultancy RSK has acquired Geocore Investigations, its fifth deal this financial year. RSK employs more than 3,100 staff in 100 offices globally, and has revenues of more than £250m. Geocore is a subsidence investigation specialist with 30 staff.

Great Rail Journeys (GRJ) is to acquire Vacations by Rail (VBR), an independent US provider of escorted and independent rail holidays. The deal bolsters GRJ’s position as global market leader, and provides a path to new product areas such as its newly launch Rail River Cruise Range. It hit turnover of £86m in the year to 31 October 2018.

Cheshire manufacturer Stacey Europe has seen its assembly business sold to Autac, after falling into administration in July. Launched 30 years ago, Stacey Europe supplied cable assemblies to the automotive, energy, scientific, medical, highways and railways sectors. While some staff have moved with the business, most have lost their jobs.

Boroughbridge-based vegetation management, fencing and landscaping firm ATM has completed an MBO. With backing from Fresh Equity, the £350,000 deal rounds off an 18-month branch-out from US parent company DeAngelo Bros.

IDHL Group has acquired email marketing and automation platform Wired Plus for an undisclosed sum. The deal augments IDHL’s digital portfolio with the addition of Wired’s automation software. It is IDHL’s first platform acquisition and first product with a SaaS business model.