Powerscourt has advised RBS Aviation Capital on its sale to a consortium of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan's No. 2 bank, for $7.3 billion.

RBS Aviation Capital is the world's fourth-largest aircraft leasing division with one of the youngest fleets in the sector, comprising 206 aircraft and forward orders for a further 87 planes. The disposal is the largest by RBS's non-core division and the largest-ever sale of a plane leasing business.

The Powerscourt team was led by Rob Greening and Rory Godson, Powerscourt's founder, with support from Matthew Fletcher and Lisa Kavanagh.

As 2011 draws to a close, Powerscourt would like to thank you - our clients and contacts - for the privilege of working together and for trusting us with your business this year.

This has been a year of extraordinary challenge for our clients and Powerscourt has grown to help them meet it.  We are now bursting out of our existing office space and will move to new offices in the City next year.

Escher Group, which has raised £15.4 million through a listing on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange, was advised on its financial communications by Powerscourt.

Escher is a leading provider of outsourced, point-of-sale software to the postal industry. Escher’s core software, Riposte, provides a solution for postal authorities which are seeking to counteract a decrease in traditional mail volumes by widening their service offering, reducing cost and increasing efficiency.

Escher raised £15.4 million via an Institutional Placing undertaken by Panmure Gordon, the company’s nominated adviser and broker. The shares started trading on Monday 8th August 2011, giving Escher a market capitalisation of £29.0 million.

Powerscourt has advised Kentz, the £500m market cap global engineering specialists, on its move to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.

Powerscourt first worked with Kentz when it listed on AIM in February 2008 at 115p. Kentz has grown considerably since then and climbed 11½p to 471p on its first day of dealings on Friday 22nd July 2011.

Employing over 11,000 people in 27 countries, Kentz serves a blue chip client base primarily in the oil and gas, petrochemical and mining and metals sectors. Clients include energy majors such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP in geographies ranging from the Middle East, Australasia and Africa.

Kennedy, whose career with BP spanned four decades and several leadership teams, is a hugely experienced corporate communicator.

A former journalist, he joined BP in 1977 to edit its Shipping News. By the time of his retirement at the end of 2009, Kennedy’s career had included takeovers, tragic accidents, share price collapses, environmental campaigns and corporate scandals.

He will now deploy his expertise across a range of issues to advise Powerscourt and its clients.

It is easy to forget the feeling that we were witnessing a new dawn during those heady days in May last year when two rival parties joined together in one government to save the country. After a bitterly-contested election, the dramatic formation of the coalition felt like British democracy was entering a new dimension.

He was until recently a senior Managing Director at Financial Dynamics and is a key appointment to Powerscourt’s growing business. Giles started his PR career in 1993 at Gavin Anderson, before joining Financial Dynamics in 1994. There, he founded and led the TMT team until 2006. He was a member of the FD London Board and in 2009 launched and led the European Restructuring & Recapitalisation practice. 

Birrell, whose long Fleet Street career included 12 years as Deputy Editor of The Independent, is one of the most respected commentators in the national and international media. He will deploy his expertise across a range of policy issues to advise Powerscourt and its clients.

“Ian has unrivalled contacts and deep knowledge of public policy,” said Rory Godson, founding Partner of Powerscourt. “In a period of coalition-related uncertainty, regulatory change and heightened government intervention in the economy, he can provide invaluable strategic public affairs insights. I am thrilled to welcome him to our team.”

This has been Powerscourt’s most successful twelve months. In a year of uncertainty as well as opportunity for the business community, we have substantially increased headcount and have been rewarded with strong business flows.

It has been our privilege to work alongside some terrific clients in a variety of exciting and challenging roles.

In 2010, our firm advised BP, Prudential, and a growing roster of public and private companies. We worked with Betfair, the world’s leading betting exchange, on its London IPO – the most eagerly-awaited listing of the year.