Increased deals activity good news for DLA Piper

LAW firm DLA Piper’s corporate team in Leeds has reported a period of increased deals activity.

Over the last month, the 16-strong team has completed 12 deals with an aggregate value of almost £215m, the firm said.

Jonathan Procter, head of corporate at DLA Piper’s Leeds office, said: “There are two very definite trends which are driving deals activity. Firstly, corporate acquirers continue to buoy the deals market; companies are recognising that a relatively flat economy can restrict their organic growth and are instead identifying opportunities for growth through acquisition. These deals tend to be funded out of existing resources.
 
“Secondly, we’re seeing an increasingly large number of overseas businesses actively investing in the UK. Many are using the country as a gateway to the rest of Europe and often are taking advantage of the favourable exchange rate.”

And Mr Procter said from a vendor perspective, DLA Piper was experiencing an increase in disposal activity from both private equity and private individuals.

“Private equity houses are taking advantage of some strong corporate buyers in the market as a route to realising current investments,” he said.

“Individual businesses are recognising that they have taken their businesses as far as their ownership structure and the current economy will let them and that now is therefore as good as any other time in the foreseeable future to sell.
 
“As a result, businesses that may otherwise be experiencing stagnant growth instead have the opportunity of a new owner to provide fresh investment and take the business into new products and markets.

“I very much believe that the current upswing in deal activity will help take a number of local businesses to the next level in their commercial development and this should be beneficial for the local economies in which they operate.”

The Leeds team has acted on deals including the £95m acquisition of Mediavest by Aegis, and the £40m disposal of Batiste dry shampoo business to US-based Church & Dwight.