NEC deal boosts West Midlands buyout figures

THERE were a healthy number of management buy-outs in the West Midlands in the first six months of 2015 compared with the previous year, new figures have revealed.
 
Ten deals – including the £300m+ sale of the NEC – were completed in the region in the first half of the year – compared to 15 during the whole of 2014.
 
And the average value of those deals was comparable with last year too – totalling more than £400m in the first half of 2015 compared to just over £1bn in the whole of last year.
 
The new figures are taken from the latest data published by the Centre for Management Buy-Out Research (CMBOR), sponsored by Equistone Partners Europe.
 
Paul Harper, partner of the Midlands office of Equistone, said: “The feeling is very much that the region is moving in the right direction.

“The privatisation of the NEC Group has resonated on a national scale – that deal alone was worth over £300m and has helped boost figures for the region for the first half of the year.
 
“Whilst the NEC transaction has skewed the statistics, there does seem to be an underlying improvement in the region, especially now that uncertainty caused by the General Election has subsided.
 
Nationally, the UK saw its first £1bn+ deal for three years and a record half for private equity exits. New Look’s recent £1.9bn deal ends the UK’s barren run for £1bn+ deals which extends back to 2012.

Harper added: “Whilst the exit market has arguably strengthened, the value of new deals completed has also hit new highs not seen since before the recession in 2008.

“It is perhaps no coincidence that the first half of 2015 has also seen a number of firms successfully close their latest funds, so this will stoke the fire further and we can expect to see more deals in the near future.”