Yorkshire private equity buyout market hits record £1.4bn

THE private equity buyout market in Yorkshire has reached its highest half-year deal value this decade, coming it at around £1.4bn in value.

Yorkshire’s total deal value was surpassed by only London (£2.6bn) and the South East (2.3bn).

Four of the nine deals completed in the region so far were in the top 20 biggest UK deals this year.

This includes the mammoth £720m sale of Sky Betting and Gaming to CVC in March.

Discount retailer Poundworld’s deal was up there as well, after being sold to US private equity firm TPG for £150m.

The float of Doncaster-based furniture chain DFS which valued the company at £543m in March also helped bolster the market.

The Centre for Management Buyout Research partnered with Equistone Partners Europe on the data.

Andi Tomkinson, investment director at Equistone Partners Europe in the North of England, said: “The Yorkshire deal market has performed exceptionally well in H1, with a number of high-value deals that have helped it become the leading region in the North for private equity buyouts.

“The number of significant transactions in the region shows that we’re still very much in a buoyant market and it’s positive to see that the appetite for assets in Yorkshire remains high.”