North West is top deal region outside London
THE North West’s private equity buyout market was one of the UK’s most active in 2013, with 34 deals worth £1.63bn, according to the latest data from the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR).
The research, sponsored by Equistone Partners Europe and EY, shows the North West was second to London in terms of deal numbers, where 38 were completed.
But the region was some way behind London in terms of value where the deals amassed £3.8bn, and the South East where 29 deals garnered £3.1bn.
The North West was down on its 2012 total of around £2.7bn – buoyed by the £1.45bn buyout of Iceland Foods – but ahead of Yorkshire on £1.16bn and Scotland with £469m. Nationally, deal values fell from £16.4bn to £13.5bn with the number of transactions dropping from 206 to 183.
Researchers included the £964m sale of Liverpool-based B&M Retail to US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, which was announced in December 2012. The other big deals were the acquisition of Chester-based pub group Admiral Taverns by US investment firm Cerberus Capital Management for £200m and the £73m secondary management buyout of Cheadle-based online travel agent On the Beach to Inflexion Private Equity from ISIS Equity Partners.
Steve O’Hare, partner at Equistone Partners Europe, said: “Yet again, the North West continues to be one of the top performing regions in the UK and is only marginally behind London for private equity activity. The region continues to be a fertile place for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. With growing confidence in the economy, we expect to see a similarly strong performance in 2014 as private equity continues to support growth in businesses both within the UK and internationally.”
Tim Morris, M&A partner at EY, said: “Standout deals completed at the beginning of this year, including B&M Bargains and Admiral Taverns, have boosted confidence and driven activity in the region – making the North West one of the UK’s most active for private equity buyouts in 2013. We expect to see overall deal activity levels increase in 2014. In particular, we anticipate more primary buyouts from large corporates, as confidence in realising good value from the disposal of “non-core” subsidiaries has returned.”
