Boutique M&A advisory firm LAVA has transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
Founded in September 2020, LAVA was designed to disrupt the M&A industry with an innovative approach to both dealmaking and team-building.
Partners Simon Woodcock and Hamish Martin launched LAVA with the aim of building ‘a place we actually wanted to work’.
LAVA is a certified B Corp and commits 2.5% of annual revenue directly to its charity partners. 100% of shares have transitioned to employee ownership.
“We’ve advised many clients to go down this route with great success, so it’s only logical that we take our own advice and embrace this new phase of LAVA’s story,” said Martin, who has handled many EOT transitions in the past.
In the past 12 months LAVA has more than doubled its headcount, adding further deep technical expertise as well as investing in both origination and storytelling capabilities to provide additional value to clients and maximise valuations.
Woodcock added: “Over the past four years LAVA has gone from strength to strength, and it’s really important to us not only that we can continue that growth, but also that we can capitalise on an opportunity to secure the future of our team and make sure they continue to feel truly invested in the company they’ve helped us build.”