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Introduction

The Scottish Business Insider Deals & Dealmakers Awards acknowledge and reward excellence in corporate finance transactions.

The awards celebration dinner recognises the bankers, venture capitalists, lawyers and accountants who initiate, structure and negotiate deals for growing organisations. The awards are based on deals completed by this community in the fiscal year 2020/21.

With hundreds of people attending the event, made up of dealmakers, bankers, lawyers and event sponsors, the event makes for the ideal networking opportunity.

The dinner itself is not only an excellent opportunity to network with some of the leading players in Scottish dealmaking; it is also a highly entertaining evening with a high profile guest speaker.

2nd December 2021
6.30pm - 11.00pm
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Glasgow Central

Award Categories


  • Acquisitive company of the year

    This award recognises the Scottish-headquartered company which delivered the most ambitious, innovative acquisition or acquisition strategy in 2020/21.

    Corporate finance team of the year

    Sponsored by CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP

    This category will celebrate the team that made the greatest contribution to a deal or deals in the year. It may be a lead advisory, financial diligence or tax team; or a team providing specialist diligence, market insight or advice to bring an edge to deal making in Scotland.

    Deal of the year 2021

    The judging panel will select the best deal chosen from the category winners.

    Early stage deal of the year

    Sponsored by Brewin Dolphin

    This category recognises the quality of the investment capital, the level and quality of the syndication of the investment, the scale of the market opportunity for the company and the potential return for investors, and the role of the management team and its advisers in realising the deal.

    Emerging dealmaker of the year

    This award will recognise a newcomer to the Scottish dealmaking community who has played a key role in making a deal or deals happen. The individual may have identified the opportunity or played a key role during negotiations.

    Funder of the year

    Recognises the role of the funding community in making deals happen. The funder may have provided debt, equity or an alternative source of finance and supported the management teams of Scottish based companies to add value and take the business to another level.

    Legal adviser of the year


    This award recognises the skills of legal advisers involved in deals. The judges will be looking at a range of factors including innovation and the ability to resolve complicated issues. Individual lawyers or teams at individual firms can be nominated for this award.

    Sale of the year


    This award is for the Scottish-headquartered company which carried out the most successful and impressive sale or sales in 2020/21.

    SME deal of the year

    This award is for a Scottish-based company with an annual turnover of less than £20 million that has been involved in a transformational deal whether acquisition, sale, fundraising or MBO/MBI.

    Transformational deal of the year

    This category recognises the deal of any type – including management buyouts, buy-ins, employee buyouts – which transforms the fortunes of a Scottish-headquartered business.

Entry Process

Please register below to enter into the Deals & Dealmakers Awards before Friday 27th September. Once a registration for entry has been submitted, a questionnaire will be sent across via email and must be completed and returned by the closing date Friday 1st October.

Judging of the Deals & Dealmakers Awards is conducted by an independent panel of experts and is extremely thorough. The information provided will be collated and followed by a shortlisting by our panel.

If the nominated company/individual moves forward to the next stage, representatives will be invited to attend an interview in front of our judging panel. Please note that interviews will take place on Tuesday 26th October and we would appreciate that a representative(s) of the company is available on this date.