May Deals Market Review in association with Grant Thornton
Richard Goldsack, corporate finance partner at Grant Thornton Yorkshire, runs the rule over the headline deals from across the region in May.
May was a busy month of deals for what I would describe as ‘proper’ Yorkshire businesses.
The pick of these saw Sheffield manufacturer ALTEK acquired for an initial £45m by US-based group Harsco Corporation.
ALTEK Group, which manufactures products that enable aluminium producers and recyclers to manage and efficiently extract value from critical waste streams, reduce waste generation, and improve operating productivity, is seen as a key strategic buy by Harsco, enabling the global engineered products and services company to expand its capabilities.
In another significant regional deal, NorthEdge Capital backed the management buyout of engineering tooling supplier Cutwel. The investment in the Cleckheaton-based business will support Cutwel as it looks to double its 50-strong headcount over the next four years.
In a landscape of emerging technologies and disruptive markets, it’s always pleasing to see what for many are perceived as traditional sectors continue to thrive and be attractive investment opportunities.
It’s also interesting to watch how any business transitions into its next chapter following investment. With ALTEK and Cutwel both entering their next chapters from relative positions of strength there’s no reason to doubt that both their stories will continue to be positive ones.
Elsewhere across the deals landscape, it was a busy month for private equity with LDC backing the secondary buyout of transport management software firm Mandata in a £20m deal, and Cinven acquiring Ripponden-based laundry equipment supplier JLA from HgCapital.
Away from the PE scene, the door to the Initial Public Offering (IPO) market continues to be firmly open to strong Yorkshire businesses. This is evidenced by Wakefield-based video games developer Team 17 listing as well as the more recent addition of North East manufacturer Tekmar, both representing successful exits for private equity investors, LDC and Elysian respectively.
Clearly business planning and growth strategies don’t immediately stop once an IPO has completed. And despite the seemingly never ending chaos on our railways, nor does activity linked to this sector. So it was pleasing to see listed business Renew Holdings acquire railway contractor QTS in a deal valued at £20m.
Looking to the rest of the Yorkshire deals market in May, overall activity was positive – a healthy barometer of our outlook for the coming months.
Key highlights included the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund completing four investments (AFOS, Pure Clarity, SatSense and Ash TV), Proventus putting funds into budget gym chain Xercise4Less, and Civica acquiring Nationwide Retail Systems.
Finally, for those TheBusinessDesk.com readers who are on the roller-coaster ride that is being a Leeds United supporter, another twist came with the somewhat left-field announcement that 49ers Enterprises, an investment entity affiliated with the San Francisco 49ers American football team, had become a minority investor in the Championship club.
There’s certainly never a dull moment at Elland Road.
