Deal pipeline increases for Shakespeares as business owners look to sell up

LAW firm Shakespeares has said its deal pipeline in the Midlands is benefitting as private business owners look to sell up and take advantage of more favourable market conditions.

David Stevenson, Commercial Services Group Head and corporate partner at the firm said the level of interest being seen from sellers was the highest it had been for some time.
 
“There are many factors driving this interest. In particular, the pent up demand that has been latent in the market for some time is now gathering momentum and we are expecting a number of deals to come to the table and complete over the next six months,” he said.
 
Among the other reasons for the increased interest in deal activity is speculation about what might happen to entrepreneur’s relief if Labour wins the general election next year. While entrepreneurs’ relief was introduced by Labour in 2008, the threshold for qualifying capital gains over the period of an individual’s lifetime was raised to £10m by the coalition Government in 2011.
 
“While there is no reason to think it would definitely happen, some entrepreneurial businesses are concerned that the current tax regime could be made less generous if Labour win the general election and this is adding to the reasons to pursue a sale now,” added Stevenson.
 
“Another reason is the level of buyer interest in the marketplace and some lenders are being more proactive about looking for deals to finance too.
 
“Based on the current pipeline, we are expecting a decent end to 2014 and a strong start to 2015 – as long as there are no disruptive events in the meantime of course.”