By Ben Martin
LONDON (Reuters) - Robey Warshaw, the small boutique advisory firm that has worked on some of Britain's biggest deals, saw its annual profits soar 73 percent to more than 60 million pounds, according to a company filing.
The firm, founded by veteran investment bankers Sir Simon Robey, Simon Warshaw and Philip Apostolides in 2013, has quickly established itself as one of the UK's leading M&A advisory businesses with roles in blockbuster deals, including Royal Dutch Shell's (L:RDSa) $53 billion acquisition of BG Group, announced in 2015, and Reckitt Benckiser 's (L:RB) $16.6 billion purchase of U.S. baby formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition last year.
In the year ended March 2017, it made a profit of 63.3 million pounds, up from 36.6 million pounds in the same period a year earlier, the accounts show.
The trio of founders will share the profit, with the highest paid individual, who was not identified in the filing, entitled to receive 37.3 million pounds.
It came as turnover at Robey Warshaw leapt to 72.7 million pounds from 43.3 million pounds as the firm, which is based in London's upmarket Mayfair district, netted fees from deals that closed in the period.
These included advising brewer SABMiller (LON:SAB) on its $110 billion acquisition by rival Anheuser-Busch InBev (BR:ABI), a deal that completed in October 2016, and SoftBank on its $32 billion takeover of British chip designer Arm Holdings, which closed in September 2016.
Major deals have enabled the firm to quickly grow its profits from the 19.4 million pounds its three founders shared in the 18 months to March 2015.
Aside from the trio of partners, the accounts show the small firm averaged 13 employees during its 2017 financial year.