Gerald Edelman’s Deal Advisory team has advised on the MBO of Deploy, a specialist recruitment business

Gerald Edelman is delighted to announce that its Deal Advisory team has advised on the MBO of Deploy, a specialist recruitment business, which has been acquired from the De Group.

Deploy is a recruitment and project services company delivering to the rail, infrastructure and technology markets; it provides temporary, contract and permanent resources to clients, via a variety of skilled, professional, and technical personnel. In 2022, Deploy has achieved £17 million revenue and is expecting both growth in revenue and headcount in 2023 and beyond.

Paul Smith, who led the MBO, founded the rail and infrastructure business nine years ago. He took over the running of the construction and security recruitment arm four years ago, before becoming MD of the Deploy group in 2022. Paul is supported by senior members of the team, Rod Lanigan, Vikas Puri and Rob Wands who have all been with the business for a number of years.

The MBO will enable Deploy to better serve its clients and empower the management team to take the business forward under their ownership. The MBO team was advised by Gerald Edelman (deal advisory, tax, accountancy) and RWK Goodman (legal).

Paul Smith, MD of Deploy, said:

“I would like to thank GE’s deal team, who supported us through this process. They helped to negotiate and close out the deal to its completion. Their advice was pivotal in delivering this deal and their management of the various stakeholders throughout was excellent. We couldn’t have done this deal without them!

I would like to thank the DE Group for their support and backing in the Deploy journey, especially Paul Ford and Ashley Griffiths for believing in me from the start to grow and develop the recruitment businesses.

The team and I look forward to continuing the Deploy journey!”

Jack Bettell, Manager in the Deal Advisory team at Gerald Edelman, said:

“We are delighted to have advised the management team on this exciting MBO. The business is now extremely well-positioned to grow as a result of this deal. We wish Paul and the rest of the team at Deploy every success with the exciting new chapter that lies ahead.”