Buy and build platforms

Acquisitions can transform a business – expanding scale, scope and reach. But execution is hard, and most management teams only do this once. Having an experienced partner to support the journey can accelerate it and increase the likelihood of success. 

Inflexion has seen M&A as a key value acceleration strategy since inception in 1999, with over 660 acquisitions made for the portfolio since then. Last year saw 75 acquisitions undertaken, representing a combined enterprise value of over €1 billion.

The last 12 months have seen three new platform launches supported by Inflexion. At the beginning of this year, Inflexion made a cornerstone investment in a new insurance broking platform Ascend, which is consolidating the market and specialises in commercial lines, healthcare and value-add risk management solutions. Absolute was launched last summer as a new independent financial advice consolidator with £100m of committed funding. It aims to build one of the UK’s leading Independent Financial Planning businesses by bringing together high-quality advisory businesses under a unified, well-resourced structure. Both Absolute and Ascend have developed strong acquisition pipelines, with Absolute having agreed 14 acquisitions to date and more imminent.

Most recently, Inflexion has invested in the launch of Mittelstands-Assekuranz-Partner (‘MAP’), a new German multi-specialist insurance broker, which will build a leading insurance broker across Germany. Brokers joining the group will retain their identity and entrepreneurial culture while gaining access to central infrastructure, specialist know-how, technology and growth resources. MAP is embedding AI capabilities from the outset while preserving the personal, relationship-driven model that clients value.

“We have learned first-hand how transformational acquisitions can be for businesses,” says Andrea Bertolini, Partner and Head of Financial Services at Inflexion. “Done well, they can turbo-charge growth, helping a business to expand its market share, customer base, offering and footprint. Getting it right is a lot of work – in the preparation, the execution and the integration. But we bring real experience and take on much of the heavy lifting,” he notes. 

For Dave Carter, Co-Founder of Absolute, Inflexion’s backing has been central to the platform’s ambitions. “Inflexion gave us the firepower and the credibility to move quickly in a competitive market,” he says. “But what really sets the partnership apart is the depth of expertise they bring. Their experience building Succession Wealth into the UK’s largest independent adviser showed us they understand our sector inside out – from sourcing the right acquisitions to retaining the people who make those businesses work.”

Carter is equally clear on how the two organisations work together day to day. 

When it comes to sourcing opportunities, AI can be a powerful tool  - especially where fragmented markets typically contain large numbers of small, hard-to-find businesses.

Inflexion’s internal database aggregates decades of work with data from various external providers of financial and alternative data, internal intelligence from meetings and conversations with experts, and documents and information from the CRM.

“AI is really helpful for finding niche companies, especially when sector classifications aren’t clear. It understands what you’re looking for, moving beyond simple keyword searches to deliver more nuanced results,” Andrea notes.

Inflexion has helped many businesses lead their home markets, and others to expand globally, with a quarter of its 660+ acquisitions international:

Celnor – Celnor was launched to create a UK leader by consolidating a highly fragmented TICC market, and has made 45 acquisitions since its creation alongside Inflexion in 2023

DR&P – An organic growth rate of 23% combined with 13 acquisitions completed in three years generated a 10x increase in EBITDA alongside a quadrupling of headcount during Inflexion’s investment.

Medivet – Inflexion’s Partnership Capital minority funding helped double the number of staff and sites at Medivet, a veterinary business, before it was sold to CVC Capital Partners

Phenna – Inflexion’s 18-month minority partnership with TICC specialist Phenna saw EBITDA more than double with 23 acquisitions as an international platform of scale was created

Succession Wealth – Succession became the UK’s largest independent wealth manager during its partnership with Inflexion, which saw assets under advice and management grow 5x before its sale to FTSE 100 business Aviva plc.

TC Group – Inflexion has been supporting the ambitious market consolidation of TC Group since 2023, with its impressive acquisition cadence seeing it become an Accountancy Age Top 20 firm within the first year of Inflexion partnership

Celnor

Celnor was established by Inflexion in 2023 as a platform for testing, inspection, certification and compliance (TICC) businesses. It is consolidating the TICC market across four key pillars: Built Environment, Safety and Compliance, Risk Management and Analytical Sciences.

Inflexion has substantial expertise in consolidating the TICC market through a number of successful investments in the sector, including Phenna Group, Alcumus, BES Group and Cawood Scientific, and this business is supporting Celnor’s ambitious acquisition strategy. At the time of launch, Inflexion supported three acquisitions, which were followed by a further 16 all within the first 12 months of ownership. To date the business has made an impressive 45 acquisitions, four of which were international, including two in the US.

The strong conversion is boosted by Celnor’s collaborative style: it allows member companies to maintain the autonomy and local culture that has made each business. Celnor has made significant investment in training and development for over 300 colleagues in line management roles.

“Inflexion is very helpful, particularly with bigger deals. We were in a competitive process for this latest acquisition and the rapport I built up with management was backed up by the premium brand of Inflexion,” enthuses Simon Parrington, Founder and CEO of Celnor.

Celnor’s impressive acquisition cadence requires substantial resource, with a team experienced in acquisitive growth built up since launch. “Inflexion’s brand helps us to attract the best talent, with people joining our M&A team from listed companies as well as large accountancies,” Simon says. Inflexion itself complements the in-house team, bringing its network and experience in supporting over 660 acquisitions to the table.

DR&P

During its three-year partnership with Inflexion, marketing communications agency David Roberts & Partners (DR&P) pursued a targeted acquisition strategy to broaden its capabilities and build a more diversified national platform. The business’s buy-and-build journey expanded its expertise across complementary marketing disciplines, enabling it to offer clients a broader integrated proposition.

Founded in 1980, DR&P provided marketing, communications and creative services to organisations across the public and private sectors. Inflexion backed the business in 2023 to help it grow, helping accelerate its buy-and-build strategy while investing in leadership, technology and operational infrastructure to support integration.

Key to this was preserving the entrepreneurial culture and specialist expertise of acquired businesses while giving them access to the scale, infrastructure and resources of a larger organisation.

Initially focused on becoming a northern powerhouse, DR&P’s ambitions quickly grew. An opportunity in Glasgow led to further investments across the UK, with the growing success leading to increased brand recognition and inbound calls. This inspired DR&P to expand south, opening offices in Birmingham and London. International expansion followed with acquisitions such as CLP and ARB, which significantly enhanced DR&P’s global reach.

CLP’s expertise in global marine insurance introduced DR&P to markets in Hamburg, Cyprus, and Athens, while ARB brought access to Europe, Asia, and Australia.

In 2025, Inflexion sold DR&P to specialist brokerage BMS Group. By the time of the transaction, the business had significantly expanded its capabilities and market presence, with 13 acquisitions as well as organic growth helping to generate a 10x increase in EBITDA and quadrupling of headcount during Inflexion’s investment.

Medivet

Inflexion’s Partnership Capital minority funding helped double the number of staff and sites at Medivet, a veterinary business, before it was sold to CVC Capital Partners. The partnership saw the business grow its sites to more than 350 across the UK and Europe with headcount doubling to over 3,000 as the business capitalised on industry deregulation to acquire practices across the UK and latterly in Germany and Spain.  

Medivet is a highly regarded pet-care business comprised of a community of vets, nurses and other related professionals operating a hub-and-spoke model of main centres and first opinion practices. Inflexion’s understanding of the market gleaned through its investment in Kynetec combined with its extensive buy-and-build experience made it a good fit for Medivet.

During the partnership, Inflexion helped strengthen the leadership team and provided marketing and digital expertise to drive customer experience and develop new branch software.

The strong support was part of a minority partnership. “We took Inflexion on because we wanted to de-risk and they offered true minority capital – which is rare,” Founder Arnold Levy said at the time. “We wanted their expertise to complement us, and they helped us to get us to where we are now as a partner who really contributed to the business.” He is careful to point out they weren’t hands-off investors: “They were minority partners who didn’t just sit on the wings and talk about things, they got heavily involved when we needed it.”

Medivet significantly increased its number of sites and employees through an ambitious programme of organic and M&A growth. Inflexion supported the expansion of Medivet into Europe with the acquisition of over 40 practices in Germany and Spain.

“Inflexion was the perfect partner for Medivet as it accelerated its UK expansion both organically and via acquisition, and expanded overseas into Germany and Spain,” said Deirdre Burns, Executive Chair of Medivet at the time of the sale. She had been brought in through a process led by Inflexion. Her retail background complemented existing management’s veterinary expertise and was well suited to the direction the business was going. Further senior appointments supported by Inflexion included a CFO, CTO and CMO as well as an HR function, which proved critical to the business’s growth.

Phenna

Inflexion’s 18-month minority partnership with TICC specialist Phenna saw EBITDA more than double with 23 acquisitions as an international platform of scale was created, valued at over £1bn when it was sold.

Phenna Group is a global business focused on the Testing, Inspection, Certification and Compliance (TICC) sector and consists of a broad range of TICC businesses currently serving the industrial manufacturing and built environment markets. The company is consolidating the highly fragmented TICC industry by acquiring select niche, independent TICC businesses that serve critical end-markets in the UK and internationally. 

Inflexion was well positioned to help Phenna achieve its ambitious growth plans due to its substantial experience in the sector following investments in Alcumus, British Engineering Services and Cawood Scientific. Inflexion’s significant M&A experience enabled Phenna to undertake 23 acquisitions in six countries as the firm accelerated its internationalisation, adding significant revenues in Asia and the Middle East and expanding into new end-market sectors. Inflexion also supported the build-out of the central leadership team.

“Inflexion’s minority offering, knowledge of our sector, and support in accelerating our M&A journey exceeded my expectations,” recalls Paul Barry, Founder and CEO of Phenna Group.

Succession Wealth

Succession Wealth’s impressive journey with Inflexion saw it become the UK’s largest independent financial adviser at the time of its sale to FTSE 100 Aviva plc in 2022 for £385 million. The eight-year journey saw 60 acquisitions grow its assets under advice and management from £1.7 billion to £9.5 billion with 200 planners advising c.19,000 clients. 

The partnership began in 2014 when Succession’s leadership was looking to scale through add-on acquisitions. Drawn to Inflexion’s experience in M&A, the partnership included strengthening the leadership team and central functions to support the growth of the business. Inflexion also supported the firm to develop a vertically integrated wealth management proposition, ultimately making Succession the only independent financial adviser consolidator with its own platform. 

“We are very grateful for the incredible support Inflexion have been in helping us to consolidate the domestic market and achieve the scale we have,” said CEO James Stevenson at the time of the sale. 

TC Group

Inflexion has been supporting the ambitious market consolidation of TC Group since 2023. The business offers accountancy, taxation services and broader professional advice to UK SMEs and has been recognised as an Accountancy Age ‘Top 20’ firm since 2024.

TC Group provides bespoke, high-quality accounting, bookkeeping, tax, audit and payroll services along with broader business and personal advice. It operates through over 60 local offices throughout the UK with over 1,500 employees servicing over 30,000 clients. TC focuses on enabling partners to retain their autonomy and grow their income whilst providing industry-leading infrastructure and support. 

There is further to go, with the firm’s M&A focus now about continuing to expand the national footprint as well as scaling TC’s existing offices. The wind is in its sails: Firstly, many firms struggle to invest in technology as a small and independent entity – a topic becoming more pressing as AI and automation reshape the landscape. But by bringing practices together within a larger, well-resourced organisation, investment opportunities are more within reach, and efficiency and service quality can both improve.

Secondly, succession planning is creating another opportunity. Many partners who have spent decades building their firms are now looking for a step towards exit but want to keep their legacy intact. TC’s model provides a runway for transition that keeps the essence of these businesses alive with an equity structure that ensures firms can retain their culture.

“The more we have grown, the stronger our platform has become,” says Grant Bartholomew, Executive Chairman. “With every transaction, we refine our ability to support partners, ensuring they benefit from our infrastructure while maintaining autonomy.”