Douglas Edmunds, Partner at CapEQ — Europe's first certified B Corporation M&A advisory boutique — has been appointed to the judging panel of the Thames Valley Deals Awards 2024. Organised by The Business Magazine, the awards are the region's pre-eminent recognition of corporate finance achievement, covering the Thames Valley, the UK's second-largest regional economy after London.
The appointment reflects CapEQ's standing as a specialist M&A advisory firm whose co-founders have a track record leading more than 100 completed transactions. Edmunds brings particular depth in technology, regulated sectors, and PE-backed deal structures — making him well placed to assess the breadth and complexity of deals submitted across the awards' 13 categories.
Edmunds is joined on the panel by Susan Elliott of the British Business Bank, Peter Jacobs of Apiary Capital, and Jeremy Hill of SG Kleinwort Hambros. Together, the panel will evaluate entries spanning private equity, legal excellence, and due diligence — categories that reflect the full range of professional disciplines involved in a completed M&A transaction.
Edmunds has directly advised on a series of notable transactions in technology and regulated sectors, including the sale of Firmstep to PE-backed Granicus, Paycircle to Access Group, and Factmata — an AI-powered social media monitoring business — to PE-backed Cision. His advisory work spans domestic and international buyers, with a focus on deals where operational complexity or regulatory context requires specialist structuring.
The Thames Valley Deals Awards brings together corporate finance advisers, solicitors, bankers, private equity investors, and accountants to mark the year's most significant transactions and the teams behind them. This year's ceremony will be hosted by television presenter Mark Durden-Smith — known for major sports broadcasting across Channel 5 and Sky — at a black-tie dinner at Reading Football Stadium on 7 November 2024.
CapEQ is a UK-headquartered M&A advisory boutique specialising in sell-side mandates for founder-led independent businesses in the £5m to £100m revenue range. The firm was certified as Europe's first B Corporation in the M&A advisory sector in 2021 — independently verified to operate in the interests of clients, not deal income. Every CapEQ engagement is led by a Partner who has personally owned and sold businesses. The firm's senior partners have advised on more than 100 completed transactions across five continents.