The Quoted Business Awards recognise the achievements of quoted companies & rewards the outstanding contributions of individuals active in these companies. Rasche’s award was announced at a ceremony in London on Wednesday night attended by over 1,000 CEOs, entrepreneurs, finance directors, chairmen, non-executive directors, advisers & investors.
The judges singled out Rasche’s achievements in leading SSP through its most successful year to date. In July the company announced record financial results with revenues up 67 per cent to £64.4m & profit up 38% to £8.8m. In September, SSP confirmed that it had been acquired by venture capital firm Hellman & Friedman LLC (H&F) in a deal that valued the business at approximately £198 million.
Rasche’s strategic input, advice, contacts & market knowledge were cited as having identifiably improved the performance & position of the company.
Leslie Copeland, editor in chief of Growth Company Investor magazine & awards judge said: “David floated the company at 98p per share in October 2006 & in September 2008 achieved a total cash exit of 190p per share for shareholders. The trading improvement is exemplary.”
Speaking about the award, Rasche said: “It’s fantastic to win this award. I'm staggered to have received two major business awards in the space of as many months; but it’s not about me as chairman. It’s only because I have an excellent team that I could get awarded this honour, so the award is really for everyone at SSP. The business has proven to be very robust over the last seven years & we believe that will continue, even in this tough economic climate.”
The Quoted Company Awards are run by Growth Company Investor, an independent magazine for small to mid-sized quoted companies.