Big deals swell foreign investment figures

TWO big deals contributed to a busy first quarter for foreign investment in the North West, according to research from accountancy firm Deloitte.
 
In the three months to the end of March there were 12 deals led by foreign buyers with a total value of £538m.

This compared to nine with a total value of £40m in the first quarter of 2012.

According to Deloitte’s North West Cross-Border Deals Radar the 2013 total was swelled considerably by two large transactions in the region: Deutsche Bank-owned RREEF Alternative Investment’s £142m acquisition of a majority stake in One Angel Square, the Co-operative’s new Manchester headquarters, and the takeover of Leyland-based Enterprise by Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial for £385m.
 
Other key inbound deals included the buyout of Pendle manufacturer Wardle Storeys by US group Uniroyal Engineered Products and France-based Aures Technologies’s acquisition of Warrington tech firm J2 Retail Systems for £6m.

Meanwhile, outbound activity in Q1 2013 – acquisitions overseas by North West businesses – amounted to five deals, worth a total of £60m, compared to six worth £26m a year ago. Significant transactions included Salford-based green power group ENER-G’s buyout of American company Rudox Engine and Equipment.

Jodi Birkett, corporate finance partner at Deloitte in the North West, pictured, said: “It is encouraging to see cross-border deal volumes in the North West make a positive start to the year, with an increasing value of inbound and outbound transactions year-on-year.

“The presence of two £100m-plus transactions demonstrates the appetite among foreign investors for quality North West assets. While it is difficult to draw conclusions on the state of the market from headline deals, this does provide some optimism for the North West M&A market in 2013.”