SOPHIE GOW
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Sophie is an Associate at Acuity, bringing four and a half years’ corporate finance experience. Prior to Acuity, Sophie was a Manager in the M&A team at PwC Auckland, a leading mid-market advisory team in New Zealand. Before that, she worked in investment banking and corporate finance. Sophie earned a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in finance) from the University of Otago, and is a qualified lawyer.
“Acuity helped us complete this transaction in record time. Their strong and cohesive team forged excellent links with the PTSL team, providing value, support, and drive throughout the process. Huge thanks to Matthew, James, Naomi and the team for their hard work in making the process seamless for all.”
JORDAN MACKELLAR
CEO & Co-Founder, PTSL
AFTER WORK
Sophie enjoys getting outside on the tennis court, hiking, and travelling to new places to have outdoor adventures. She loves spending time with friends and family, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, and going to the theatre to catch the latest musicals.
CLIENT SUCCESSES
ALEX CRAWFORD
ALEX CRAWFORD
Associate
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Alex joined Acuity Advisors in October 2023, bringing five years of corporate finance experience. Alex is a Chartered Accountant having trained at EY before joining the transactions services team at FTI Consulting.
Prior to joining Acuity, Alex worked for two years on sell-side and buy-side deals across the media and technology sectors at WY Partners. Alex holds a history degree from University College London.
“We hired Q Advisors and Acuity Advisors for their deep knowledge of the cloud and managed services sectors, particularly around Contact Center and UCaaS, and their ability to understand the strategy of all the global players in the space. We are excited for our new relationship with Gamma and could not be more pleased with the financial and strategic outcome for Mission Labs, our stakeholders, and employees. It was great working with advisors who listened to our objectives, first and foremost, and were able to secure an industry-leading multiple for our business.”
DAMIEN HANSEN
CEO and Founder, Mission Labs
AFTER WORK
Outside of work, Alex can be found on the golf course, in the gym or watching test match cricket. Beyond sports he is a keen cook and enjoys travelling.
CLIENT SUCCESSES
MARC HORN
MARC HORN
Partner
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Marc has over fifteen years of corporate finance experience and focuses on the telecoms, cloud, and managed services sector.
Marc has advised on over twenty-five transactions across communication services, public/hybrid/private cloud, digital transformation, and digital infrastructure. Along with deep sector knowledge Marc has experience working on a wide range of deal sizes from entrepreneur led businesses to multi-national enterprises.
Marc joined Acuity in 2023 after ten years at Oakley Advisory. Prior to that Marc held roles in private equity, M&A, and valuation consultancy. Marc holds an MBA from Oxford University and a Business & Economics degree from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania.
“It’s been great working with Acuity on this fundraise – we have found Marcus and his team to be highly professional and knowledgeable about the fibre space, and very responsive at all times.”
NEIL MAHAPATRA
Managing Partner, Kingsley Capital Partners
AFTER WORK
Marc enjoys tennis and skiing, and in particular seeing his two young children quickly getting better – and soon surpassing him – at those.
CLIENT SUCCESSES
OWEN PETHICA
OWEN PETHICA
Associate
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Owen joined Acuity as an Associate in 2022 and is a member of the Software & Industrial Technology team. He brings five years’ M&A experience, most recently at Miles Advisory Partners, and has worked on mid-market transactions across Australia & the UK.
He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne.
“Working with Acuity helped us to shape the business plan and how we communicate it, as well as ensuring we targeted a highly relevant pool of investors. Their advice and guidance has helped shape this process and bring it to a great outcome for the company and investors in a round that was significantly oversubscribed.”
PAUL BRENNAN AND IAN STEVENSON
Chairman and CEO, Cyan Forensics
AFTER WORK
Owen enjoys getting outside to go hiking, skiing or diving, or staying in to watch the football in an attempt at cultural assimilation.
CLIENT SUCCESSES
DEBORA TONEVA
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Debora joined Acuity Advisors as a Senior Analyst in September 2022. Prior to that she spent two years in the transaction execution team of mid-market M&A advisor Benchmark International. She has previously completed internships with Commerzbank and Oakley Advisory.
Debora has worked with founders and stakeholders across the telecoms, managed services and cybersecurity, professional services, and SaaS industries.
Debora holds an MSc degree in Corporate Finance from Loughborough University. She is also a non-native German speaker.
“I want to thank Marcus and the Acuity team for the support they gave us throughout the fundraising process. This investment will allow us to continue our rapid scale-up and underpins our commitment to deploy quality digital infrastructure and connect villages and towns throughout Scotland.”
GAVIN RODGERS
CEO of Lothian Broadband
AFTER WORK
In her free time, Debora enjoys staying active in the swimming pool and gym, being overly competitive at chess and board games evenings with friends and family, and perfecting her song repertoire as a beginner ukulele player.
CLIENT SUCCESSES
ELLIOT CHA
ELLIOT CHA
Vice President
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Elliot joined Acuity as a Vice President in 2022 and brings a diverse background of global and boutique M&A experience. He started his M&A career in 2014 at Standard Chartered, where he learned to service clients’ needs across a variety of sector-agnostic, cross-border transactions that spanned from growth investments to billion dollar transactions. He later specialised in the Consumer and Technology sectors across several boutiques, and has focused on both sell-side and buy-side transactions across tech sub-verticals including Deep Tech, Infratech, Supply Chain Logistics, Food Tech, and more. Elliot takes pleasure in staying on top of what he calls the “technological frontier” – learning every day about new tech companies that aim to transform the world with unique value propositions – and working with businesses to help develop their core value proposition and unlocking unrealised or unforeseen value.
Elliot holds a Masters in Finance with Distinction from University of Bradford UK, is from Brooklyn NY by birth, and has resided in the UK, where he now calls home, since 2008.
“I was amazed and delighted in equal measures by the professionalism and work ethic of all at Acuity in our recent project. The whole team were highly professional at all times, helped us through the process in a very supportive way and guided us where needed. The amazing work ethic of all the team was truly fantastic and I would personally recommend them to anyone who is considering a similar project or process.”
KEVIN KIVLOCHAN
CEO, ONI
AFTER WORK
Elliot is passionate about spending time with his family, relearning jazz progressions and classical pieces long forgotten on the piano, beating personal bests at the track and at the gym, and searching for authentic tacos in London.
CLIENT SUCCESSES
JAMES SMITH
JAMES SMITH
Director
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
A Director in Acuity’s Deep Tech team, James has over a decade’s experience in technology investment banking and finance, advising shareholders, founders and management teams through transformational transactions.
He has a particular focus on advising on fundraises and exits for the European Deep Tech and Semiconductor ecosystem, and is well connected in the community. James’ financial background ensures he is well placed to analyse financial aspects of transactions and assist management teams in preparing for key parts of a transaction.
James qualified as a chartered accountant in Manchester, and worked in Sydney, Australia for three years before moving back to the UK.
“Acuity helped us complete this transaction in record time. Their strong and cohesive team forged excellent links with the PTSL team, providing value, support, and drive throughout the process. Huge thanks to Matthew, James, Naomi and the team for their hard work in making the process seamless for all.”
JORDAN MACKELLAR
CEO & Co-Founder, PTSL
AFTER WORK
James spends a lot of his free time trying to entertain his sons, who he hopes one day will follow his lead, enjoying time on the golf course, walking in the countryside and following the football.
CLIENT SUCCESSES
STEFAN DORIN
STEFAN DORIN
Vice President
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Stefan is a Vice President in the Deep Tech team at Acuity, bringing three years of M&A experience from Ciesco. He has worked directly with senior stakeholders across a variety of sectors, with a focus most recently on SaaS, data analytics and marketing services. Stefan holds a Masters in Finance and Private Equity from the London School of Economics and currently also studies to become a CFA charterholder.
“Acuity’s role in securing the sale of ROADMap should not be underestimated. They led from the front from the very beginning and managed the sale process right through to the end. Their impartial and perceptive advice was instrumental to our success and I would happily recommend them for any DeepTech transaction..”
PHIL O’DONOVAN
Chairman, ROADMap Systems
AFTER WORK
Stefan shares his passion for travel, food and hiking with his friends. He also loves reading a good book on Classical Antiquity and Early Modern English History.
CLIENT SUCCESSES
EVIA JONAITE
EVIA JONAITE
Client Support Executive
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Evia joined the Acuity team as a Client Support Executive in October 2021, and has a strong administrative background with a wealth of experience across different sectors. Evia’s work history includes providing high-quality support to C-suite executives in Real Estate, Catering Consultancy, Private Equity and Software.
“We were hugely impressed by the Acuity team who are real experts in the space. They understood our not only our business and the market, but also more detailed founder related considerations. They possess and fully utilized great connections throughout the industry, provided well-considered advice through the process and worked tirelessly to get the deal done.”
TIM TOBIN
Co-Founder, Entrepix
AFTER WORK
Outside of work hours Evia enjoys running, reading, hiking with friends and spending time with her family and very chatty dog named Jedi.
CLIENT SUCCESSES
NAOMI WAI
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Naomi joined Acuity as an Associate, bringing 4 years’ M&A experience from Waypoint Partners. She has worked with entrepreneurs and founders in the TMT sector, with a focus on deep tech currently. Naomi holds a Master’s in Finance and Accounting from Imperial College Business School.
“Acuity helped us complete this transaction in record time. Their strong and cohesive team forged excellent links with the PTSL team, providing value, support, and drive throughout the process. Huge thanks to Matthew, James, Naomi and the team for their hard work in making the process seamless for all.”
JORDAN MACKELLAR
CEO & Co-Founder, PTSL
AFTER WORK
Naomi enjoys sports and has recently added tennis, golf and surfing to her list. Naomi also loves travelling, experiencing the joys of good food and finding new recipes to experiment with every now and then.