Advise on major UK government corporate finance matters
The UKGI team has senior level investment banking and restructuring expertise that we leverage to advise government in a number of ways:
- On major UK Government interventions into corporate structures and on major UK Government corporate finance negotiations
- Where there is actual or likely financial distress in a company or sector affecting the UK Government’s policy interests, including where the government is considering making an investment into a company in distress
- Advise on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that may impact the UK Government’s national security, economic, or policy interests, including participation in the cross-Whitehall Investment Security Group
Hannah Gray
Director
Hannah joined UKGI in 2017 and leads the UKGI Special Situations team. The Special Situations team combines civil servants and restructuring/insolvency professionals who focus on sectors and corporates where there is the risk of economic shock impact to major employment or assets of national interest. Hannah has provided debt and balance sheet advice to stressed and distressed corporates since 2001. She is a highly experienced advisor, having worked on a wide range of projects covering strategic balance sheet reviews, recapitalisations, debt-for-equity swaps, creditor representation, covenant renegotiations, securitisation advisory, high yield bond issuance, rights offerings, private debt placements and stressed M&A. Hannah is a FCA and has previously worked for Deloitte, UBS, Rothschild and PwC.
Alex Reeves
Director
Alex joined UKGI (formerly the Shareholder Executive) in 2010, after over ten years in advisory and M&A roles focused on the financial services sector, most recently at Jefferies. During this time, Alex advised on and managed a large number of UK and cross-border M&A transactions for UK, European and US clients, with a particular focus on the asset management sector.
Since joining UKGI, Alex has worked on a variety of corporate finance and governance projects, including advising government as principal on transactions and investments in a wide range of sectors including aerospace and steel, and on the realisation of £3.5bn of illiquid assets transferred to government from the Royal Mail Pension Fund prior to its privatisation, including real estate and private equity portfolio sales. Alex oversees UKGI’s inward M&A team, which provides corporate finance advice and negotiation support across government on transactions of national importance.
Alex was a Non Executive Director of London & Continental Railways Limited from 2018 to 2021. He has been a Non Executive member of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority board since 2020, and runs UKGI’s Non Executive Director Forum. Alex is a co-opted member of the Investment Committee of the Civil Service Benevolent Fund.
Case Studies
Sale of Chelsea F.C.
UKGI provided support to DCMS and the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) within HM Treasury in relation to the sale of Chelsea F.C., with the aim of allowing the UK Government to assess whether a license for the sale of the Club could be granted whilst maintaining the integrity of financial sanctions.
The intersection of the sanctions regime with a complex commercial transaction required expertise from UKGI’s corporate finance and legal employees, with the team analysing and providing advice on documentation to meet the UK Government’s conditions for a sale. UKGI worked closely with a wide range of officials and the Club to ensure the sale could complete ahead of the tight deadlines required.
The UK Government licensed the sale of Chelsea F.C. in May 2022.
Vaccine TaskForce
UKGI’s corporate finance team has worked closely with HMG’s Vaccine Task Force (the VTF) since its inception in April 2020. A small number of UKGI employees worked intensively with the VTF over the year to secure access to a portfolio of vaccines, and are
credited with a strong contribution to its success.
UKGI employees, working together with BEIS as one team, led the negotiations for all seven of the initial vaccines purchased by HMG to tackle COVID-19 and also helped to secure vaccine and fill/finish manufacturing capacity, build capability and secure additional doses of vaccines.
UKGI influence has extended to the current VTF Director General being recruited from its ranks. UKGI continues to be involved in this area in particular in relation to expanding the UK’s vaccine manufacturing capability.
Thomas Cook Group
In this project, UKGI supported CAA, DfT Policy, Finance and Corporate Finance Teams and third-party advisors for over seven months to achieve a collective HMG outcome.
The UKGI team engaged in early April 2019 to understand the situation regarding Thomas Cook Group and provide information to the DfT Policy Team so they could formulate their response. After identifying the need to ensure proper governance for the combined response between HMG Stakeholders, DfT and CAA focused on the repatriation of 150,000+ passengers while UKGI and DfT Corporate Finance assisted with options analysis and contingency planning for repatriation over the peak holiday period and options to allow the business to trade until late September when passenger numbers began to tail off.
Attempts to “Keep the Fleet Flying” throughout the insolvency process were unworkable given the safety and operational challenges. In the days before insolvency, UKGI worked with the DfT finance team to fully cost and plan repatriation, liaising with advisers and Treasury.
Thomas Cook was placed into Compulsory Liquidation on 23 September 2019 with the Official Receiver who, working with CAA, leased up to 150 private sector aircraft and crew to repatriate UK passengers. The Head of CAA hailed the repatriation “a success” as the last 329 passengers returned from Orlando to Manchester on 24 October 2019.
UKGI’s central role in this project illustrates how we leverage our expertise in different scenarios to achieve the outcomes of our stakeholders.