About Us title What we do

Successsion Corporate Finance was launched in 2007 by Livingstone Partners, the leading investment banking boutique specialising in cross-border company sales, acquisitions and private equity transactions with deal values ranging between £15 million and £300 million. With offices in the United Kingdom, continental Europe and the United States, Livingstone is the only middle market M&A boutique with an integrated international infrastructure capable of delivering immediate access to buyers, investors and opportunities across two continents.

The rationale behind Succession Corporate Finance is simple: to provide the quality and depth of experienced corporate finance advice more often associated with larger transactions, to the lower-mid market. The lower-mid market in our view, means any business generating an operating profit of more than £600,000.

Succession Corporate Finance has exclusive access to the Livingstone Partners research capability, analyst team, sector knowledge and international capability as well as the experience of the 400 plus transactions completed by the team.

The business is being led by Gordon Blair, who was a partner at Livingstone Partners since 1999, having joined in 1995. He has 15 years experience in unquoted M&A

Our commitment to our clients is to:

  • Listen to your objectives and tailor the advice and transaction process to your needs - not to stuff you in to a sausage machine, "one size fits all" process to suit us.

  • Provide streetwise and commercial corporate finance advice based on real experience.

  • Have an experienced deal doer, with many years experience, lead the transaction rather than use your deal as a “training ground” for more junior people. If you are considering other advisors, our challenge to you is to ask how many transactions your deal leader has led and completed in the last 5 years – then take personal references.

  • Only take on a project if we believe there is a realistic prospect of completing the transaction the client wants - we need to genuinely believe there is a high probability of success, not merely a possibility of a transaction.

  • Provide cost effective value added advice.

  • Work with passion and good humour.

what past clients have said

  • openInitiator, facilitator, organiser, energiser, diplomat - these are some of the words that come to mind in describing the contribution of [Gordon Blair and his team] to the achievement of an
    outstanding dealclose

    David Owen, Tomkins’ subsidiary,
    Gates C&I’s former managing director

  • openWe couldn’t have done it without them. The experience was like being in a minefield, with [the team] having the map to show us where the mines were and help us through it. We would have been much more exhausted without their help. They were fantastically impressive.close

    Andrew Hirsch, chief executive,
    John Brown Citrus Publishing

  • openWith businesses that operate in pretty niche areas, you have to cast your eye pretty wide to see where buyers might come from. Very early on they identified a subset of potential buyers and did a lot of homework. They did some very good upfront work and did a very good job in negotiating the
    deal for us.close

    Andrew Ferguson, Investment Director, Granville Baird Capital Partners