Doltis’s cofounder, Tim Farazmand, was one of the failed bidders for his headhunting businesses and was managing director of Lloyds Development Capital at that time. “We got on really well,” he says. “Although I didn’t sell to Tim, I knew he was the perfect partner for my next venture.”
In starting his new venture, he faced several challenges. Compliance, governance and FCA authorization play a significant role in establishing a corporate finance firm, a complex process that took longer than he would have liked. “We are a wholly retained M&A advisory firm and fee alignment at the start was a challenge with clients,” he says. “But once we were given a chance, we quickly earned our stripes by completing successful transactions.
The firm’s most significant deal to date was securing Wemanity in France for Reply Group, which had been looking for a partner company to be the platform for them in France and its surrounding regions for some time. “Identifying an off-market consulting business of scale that was profitable in France required imagination, creativity and a real pull on our network in that region,” says Doltis.