GT closes 18 deals as M&A market hots up
A POST-election boost has helped drive a busy summer in the deals market, with the Manchester-based corporate finance team at business advisers Grant Thornton reporting a significant upturn in activity.
The firm, rated number one in the UK by Experian Corpfin for the last three years on the basis of deal volumes, completed 18 transactions around the country over June, July and August.
The total value of the deals was £426m, with an average transaction value of £23m. By sector, business support services, consumer products, and technology were the most active. Some 39% were cross border deals.
These included Grant Thornton advising Dutch-based Didix BV on the sale of the UK’s number one and two discount diners clubs – tastecard and Gourmet Society, based in Huddersfield and Stockport respectively. The business was backed by Waterland Private Equity and sold in August for an undisclosed consideration to Bridgepoint Development Capital.
The Grant Thornton team also advised the shareholders of Croydex, a Hampshire-based designer, manufacturer and distributor of bathroom products, on its £21.9m sale to AIM-listed Wilmslow-based Norcros Plc.
A further stand-out deal was Grant Thornton advising London-based Global Group (UK) Limited, a healthcare business specialising in locum doctors in UK & Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada on its £37m sale to Impellam Plc.
Ali Sharifi, the Manchester-based national head of corporate finance at Grant Thornton, said: “The election did introduce an element of uncertainty, taking away some of the momentum that was building last summer.
“Happily that’s now out of the way and people are looking at achieving growth through strategic acquisitions.
“There’s plenty of cash on corporate balance sheets that needs to be deployed and the debt markets are highly liquid again for the right leveraged deals.
“A lot of activity has also been driven by Private Equity exits – a recognition that this is as good as it gets for realising value.”
