Moore Kingston Smith advises Selbey Anderson on acquiring AML Group

Moore Kingston Smith has advised Selbey Anderson, an integrated marketing and communications group, on its acquisition of creative advertising agency, AML Group.

Selbey Anderson is an independent creative agency group comprising nine in-house agencies with a headcount of over 200 people. This is the second acquisition for Selbey Anderson in 2022, following its acquisition of brand and ABM agency Digital Radish in March. It is the first acquisition since the Group closed a £10 million debt funding facility with Triple Point in May to support its UK expansion strategy.

AML Group creates global advertising campaigns for clients in complex and regulated markets, including finance, security and business services. It specialises in strategic, creative and experiential work. These capabilities bolster Selbey Anderson’s existing wide-ranging offering, covering brand marketing, account-based marketing, digital development, B2B marketing, CRM, PR and communications. The addition of AML Group also enables Selbey Anderson to expand its client base in the financial services sector.

Paul Winterflood, George Hatswell and Henry Waugh from Moore Kingston Smith’s corporate finance team provided financial and tax due diligence for the transaction, in addition to buy-side advisory services. They were supported by Mel Reed, David Coates and Vicky Richmond from the corporate tax team.

David Rainbow, CFO of Selbey Anderson, commented: “We’d already worked with Moore Kingston Smith on a number of fronts but this was our first buy-side DD engagement with them. We’re very active in this space, but for the agencies we acquire and their owners, this is an infrequent and potentially stressful exercise. Our culture values transparency, consistency and fairness and we carry over these principles into our acquisition process. It’s important for us that our professional advisers adopt those principles when executing the work they do with us. The Moore Kingston Smith team understood the brief and delivered to scope while aligning themselves with our values. They were a great sounding board throughout the transaction and we look forward to working with them again soon.”

Paul Winterflood, Corporate Finance Partner at Moore Kingston Smith, said: “Selbey Anderson has made several successful acquisitions since 2019 and is building an exciting group. It has been fantastic to work with them on this acquisition and we look forward to supporting them with their future growth plans.”