Corporate Finance - Middle-market move.

– Mazars Neville Russell has recruited David Whitelaw, a former Paribas corporate finance director, to build its European middle-market M&A team. Whitelaw left Paribas last year after it was taken over by French rival BNP. At Mazars, the sixth largest European accountancy practice, he will work with London head of corporate finance Philip Chamberlain and Patrick de Cambourg in Paris. Mazars has a corporate finance team of 26 in London, who work principally on transaction support.

The firm’s website is at www.mazars-nr.co.uk

– Grant Thornton advised the management team in the buy-in of commercial floor and wall tile supplier Domus Tiles by TileCo, a company set up by former MD of World’s End Tiles, Jon Newey. The #10m deal will allow TileCo to enter the architectural market for major commercial projects such as the V&A museum, Jubilee Line and Canary Wharf Towers. The new group will also aim to expand into the domestic market.

See www.grantthornton.co.uk

– More than a quarter of companies in the FTSE-100 demerged or made major disposals last year, according to figures released by KPMG.

In 1998, only four FTSE-100 companies demerged or made significant disposals.

The increasing trend was put down to several economic factors, including the drive to raise shareholder value and market pressure to refocus operations. The trend was reflected in continental Europe, and KPMG predicted this trend would be set to rise in the next 12 months.

More details at www.kpmg.co.uk.