Marked increase in Midlands M&A activity – Deloitte

ACCOUNTANCY and advisory firm Deloitte says regional merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has increased in the last six months.

And the firm expects that trend to continue.

Darren Boocock, corporate finance advisory partner at Deloitte in Birmingham, said: “In particular, there has been a lot of interest and activity from overseas bidders looking at Midlands assets.

“If Midlands-based businesses themselves want to take advantage of the continued global recovery, it’s essential that they look to actively deploy their capital.

“Many Midlands companies have improved trading performance and strengthened balance sheets over recent years. It is important to effectively utilise their stockpiled cash to increase shareholder value.

“The way to do this is by increasing their exposure to emerging markets and faster growing economies via acquisitions of businesses which already have that presence.”

More generally, Deloitte is forecasting global M&A activity will increase by 6% in the second half of 2013.  With recent large M&A deals, the stage is set for up to 30,000 transactions before the end of the year, it suggests.
 
Richard Lloyd-Owen, M&A services lead at the firm, said: “The M&A market has been in relative slumber for some time now, but there are signs that it is finally waking up. 

“Our M&A Index projects a positive upturn in transactions globally in the second half of this year. This is led by a resurgence in deal activity in the US and the confidence boost provided by the Eurozone finally exiting recession.”