Tax specialist advises on 43 deals valued at £553m during busy 2019

Claritas Tax, an independent multi-disciplinary tax advisory practice with a Manchester base, advised on 43 buy and sell side transactions last year with a combined value of more than £553m.

The deals covered private equity, international and UK corporate acquirors and vendors.

The company, which has offices in Birmingham and Manchester, said all of its service lines experienced “exceptional levels” of activity during the year, but with the largest growth areas being in M&A, share valuations and R&D.

Matt Hodgson, director and head of Claritas’ Manchester office, said: “The volume of deals we advised on during 2019 in such a volatile economic environment further evidences our belief that mid-market businesses continue to thrive in the UK, irrespective of external factors such as ongoing political uncertainty.

“It also shows us that this market values the strength and depth we have within our team and the fact that we’re just focused on the tax affairs of owners and their businesses.”

He added: “Outside of M&A transactions, we also opened our new office in Manchester, took on five more experienced team members, agreed 44 share valuations and implemented the same number of share schemes, as well as advising on over 20 corporate reorganisations and claimed £4.8m of R&D tax credits for our clients.

“This helped us to achieve 35% year-on-year headline growth, which is truly outstanding. We’re looking forward to an even stronger 2020.”