Consultant engineer Hurley Palmer Flatt abandoned a private equity fundraising deal shortly before changes to capital gains tax laws came into force on 6 April.
The deal fell apart after neither side could agree on how to proceed with the capital raising exercise. One source said: “It didn’t happen in the end because there was an issue surrounding the level of financial disclosure required to do the deal.”
The new rules mean a flat rate of 18% is charged on capital gains when a company is sold, compared with a maximum of 10% before.
HPF this week denied a deal was in the pipeline in the run-up to 6 April.
Despite the setback, the group is understood to be looking at other options to fund international expansion, including private equity and bank funding.
HPF operates in 20 countries, including India and Dubai. It wants to increase its presence in Singapore, Asia–Pacific and the rest of the United Arab Emirates. It is also understood to be looking at acquisitions to bolster its global growth, although no deal is on the table.
This week the group announced strong unaudited results for the year ended 31 March 2008. Pre-tax profit was up 77% from £1.97m to £3.5m. Turnover jumped 44% from £15.6m to £22.9m and the group said its target was £28.1m next year.
As part of boardroom changes in the company, Paul Flatt has stepped up from his role as group managing director, which he held for seven years, to become chairman.
David Young has become chief executive, moving up from director, and Duncan Webster has been promoted to finance director.
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