Midlands deals market in rude health despite Brexit uncertainty

The Midlands deals market remains buoyant despite Brexit uncertainty – that’s according to the transaction service and investment teams at PwC and LDC, both of whom have reported successful years to date.

PwC’s transaction services team completed transformational deals with a combined value in excess of £1.1 billion across the Midlands region in 2019, including the sale of environmental compliance and data management firm Valpak to Reconomy at the start of the year and the sale of Care Fertility Holdings to Silverfleet Capital in March.

Meanwhile, mid-market private equity investor LDC has invested in four businesses with a combined enterprise value of almost £200 million since the start of 2019.

LDC’s investment team backed the management buyouts of the corporate apparel business of Tailored Brands, Inc, which includes Castle Donington-based Dimensions, in a deal that valued the group at £50 million, and global corporate and financial communications specialist Instinctif Partners.

Those deals came hot on the heels of the firm’s partnerships with Chesterfield-based B2B car finance broker Evolution Funding and Nottingham-headquartered IT specialist Littlefish.

LDC has also made three new hires to bolster its investment team in the region. Investment director Phil Hinson and Gary Ward, who leads the team’s business development activity, both joined earlier this year, while another new recruit, Josh Wachman, will join the firm in November.

Richard Whitwell, head of LDC in the Midlands

Richard Whitwell, head of LDC in the Midlands, said: “Management teams across the Midlands continue to show the confidence and ambition to succeed in an uncertain climate, and our activity proves that. We have £1.2 billion to invest across the UK mid-market over the next three years, and we want a significant proportion of that to be invested right here in the Midlands.”

Matthew Tombs, transaction services partner for PwC in the Midlands said: “We are delighted with the level of activity we have seen in FY19 so far, despite the uncertain economic and political backdrop and we’re proud to have supported a fantastic range of clients across a number of transactions both large and small.”