Business adviser involved in almost £650m of first quarter deals
Deals worth almost £650m were transacted by EY teams across the North of England in the first quarter of 2023.
The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) team provided buy-side advice to European Private Equity firm IK Partners for its acquisition of specialist utility and infrastructure support services business Ipsum Group, which has operations in Chorley and Haydock. Completion of the transaction is subject to legal and regulatory approvals.
EY’s debt advisory team in Manchester also advised Preston-based recycling and waste management company Recycling Lives, which is backed by investment house Three Hills Capital Partners, in securing one of the UK’s first sustainability-linked, asset-backed facilities with Natwest Group, highlighting the continued evolution and increasing importance of sustainability in the debt markets.
Mark Clephan, EY’s North corporate finance partner, said: “As anticipated, the mergers and acquisitions market has faced ongoing challenges and headwinds in the early part of 2023, which has limited deal volumes to an extent.
“With that said, we’re proud that our diverse teams across the North have continued to see demand and activity, helping to seal a total of nine deals in the first quarter of 2023.”
There was further activity in the waste management sector, as EY also provided sell-side advice to Manchester-based private equity firm NorthEdge and its shareholders in the sale of hazardous waste management company Future Industrial Services to waste and resource management group Augean.
Meanwhile, investment in technology continued to be a key theme across the region’s deals, as EY’s transaction diligence team in Yorkshire provided financial and taxation vendor due diligence to digital transformation consultancy 101 Ways, as private equity firm Growth Capital Partners completed a minority investment in the business.
In another tech deal, EY M&A provided sell-side advice to Teesside-based energy data and analytics provider EnAppSys, as the company was acquired by global private equity investment firm The Riverside Company, as an addition to its Montel AS platform.
EY’s transaction services team in the North provided vendor due diligence to AdEPT Technology Group through its sale to telecommunications and technology solutions provider Wavenet.
The team also supported Sun European Partners on its acquisition of Bolton-based professional services firm K3 Capital in a deal worth £271.7m, and assisted digital solutions business Miss Group in its continued growth, providing buyside due diligence through the company’s acquisitions of web hosting specialist Sered and domain registrar business Domene.
Steven Kingham, partner, strategy and transactions at EY, said: “A continuing trend that has carried over from 2022 into the start of 2023 is the appetite firms are showing to invest in technology and explore untapped digital opportunities and capabilities.
“The first quarter of 2023 also saw significant activity in the waste management sector, as businesses place an increasing focus on efficiency and sustainability.”
