AAB acquires GS Verde to expand into South West UK

AAB, a leading professional services firm across the UK, Ireland, and the USA, has announced the acquisition of GS Verde based in Bristol, a professional services firm that advises businesses on sales, acquisitions, and mergers. It works primarily in the South West of England and Wales. It will provide AAB with a regional presence to expand.

GS Verde is a multidisciplinary team that covers all aspects of M&A activity. The divisions include legal, corporate finance, communications, tax, accounting, and business transfer. It also has an investment platform that connects investors with ambitious business founders and innovators seeking investment. The firm has over 50 people working from offices in Cardiff, Bristol, Cheltenham, and Dublin.

Nigel Greenaway, CEO of GS Verde, commented: “Joining AAB marks the next exciting step in our journey. We’ve built a business that challenges the traditional professional services model, and partnering with AAB allows us to accelerate that ambition. Our clients and our people will continue as before – but with the backing of a Group that shares our vision for innovation, growth, and exceptional client service.”

The acquisition means AAB has over 1,100 people working across the UK, and this is just the latest in a strategic plan that is likely to see more acquisitions in 2026.

Award Winning Acquisition

GS Verde brings an award-winning approach to M&A deal-making. It’s multi-service structure should enable it to fit seamlessly into AAB, and it will be interesting to see whether its successful organisational structure is replicated across the wide AAB group.

Recognition in 2025 includes:

• Shortlisted for six awards across five categories at the Wales Dealmakers Awards 2025.
• Won two prestigious awards at the South Wales Business Awards 2025: South Wales Business of the Year and Business Services Business of the Year.
• CEO Nigel Greenway won the Equity-Backed Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards (GBEA) 2025.
• Won the Financial Advisor award at the EntreConf Awards 2025.

AAB continues expansion under Goldman Sachs

The acquisition is the first since Goldman Sachs announced its investment in the company in July this year. The firm had already tripled its revenue to £100 million by January 2025. Now, with this acquisition, its annual revenues will attain £135 million. The Goldman Sachs deal aims to further grow the accounting firm’s presence across the UK, filling a regional gap it had.

The addition of GS Verde also means that AAB is now one of the top five deal-making financial advisors in the UK, according to Experian’s H1 2025 MarketIQ report. AAB was placed 10^th, and GS Verde 21^st; their combined deal volume was 46, equal to RSM’s in fifth place. It will be interesting to see how it fares in the next report.

However, GS Verde will continue to operate as a separate brand for a while. Will Experian combine the two entities in its next report? That transition is likely to take 12 months. It took that period for AAB to rebrand Barlow Andrews to the AAB brand, which it completed in October. For the time being, the GS Verde leadership team will remain in place. Will they be offered senior roles? Or will some of the partners leave the firm over the next few years?

Emma Lancaster, Chief Executive of AAB, said: “GS Verde’s entrepreneurial DNA and multi-disciplinary offering mirror our own approach and make this an incredibly strong growth opportunity for both teams.

“Together, we achieve top 5 deal-making status while creating a key regional hub that creates our presence in Wales and the South West, supporting clients with even greater depth and expertise.”

Enterprise Times: What does this mean?

As 2025 draws to a close, this is a significant acquisition for AAB of what was already a successful and growing organisation. What wasn’t announced was the deal’s value. Nor any details about the roles the existing leadership will take within AAB, though that might take a few months to emerge.

Will GS Verde slot into the corporate finance division of AAB? It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months. Also, with the additional capability, can AAB rise even further up the Experian rankings?

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