Clive Sanford

Clive Sanford is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) with a Business Studies degree who has worked in the UK mid-market corporate finance and M&A arena since 1985. Early in his career he handled numerous public and private company transactions during the 1980s, and built and led the M&A team at a major City professional-services firm, ultimately becoming a Partner and National Head of M&A.

In 1991 he left the City to establish his own SFA-authorised specialist corporate finance advisory business, and he has remained active in the corporate finance market ever since. Across his career he has taken lead-adviser roles on hundreds of transactions across a wide range of sectors, working with more than 200 private companies, including start-ups and owner-managed businesses.

Beyond advisory work, Sanford has operated as a principal: he served as Financial Director of a c.£20 million group of companies in the consumer-products sector, raised private equity funding, and personally bought and sold companies. He has also held senior management roles in import/export, manufacturing, and B2B/B2C sales businesses, and has acted as a Non-Executive Director and board adviser to growing companies.

Today he is Founder & Managing Partner of Magus Partners — a London-based corporate finance advisory firm (founded 2002) advising on M&A, business planning, raising finance, and disposals — and is also the founder of Mercury M&A, a specialist company-sales and acquisitions advisory. He remains an active private investor in companies.

• Invests and advises as a hands-on corporate-finance practitioner, backing entrepreneurs and management teams rather than a defined "fund" thesis.
• On his own profile he describes his work as advising on *"strategy and business planning, raising debt and equity finance and acquisitions and sales of private companies."*
• Comfortable across the capital structure — has raised both debt and equity finance and deployed capital as a principal.
• Sector-agnostic, with practical operating and deal experience in consumer products, manufacturing, import/export, and B2B/B2C sales businesses.
• Values strong management teams and companies with a credible path to a sale/exit, reflecting his M&A background.