New deals activity rises in West Midlands for second successive year
NEW deal activity in the West Midlands is higher than 2013 with values rises for the second successive year, new data has shown.
According to the latest data published by the Center for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR), sponsored by EY and Equistone Partners Europe, deal activity by volume is at the highest in the West Midlands since 2011, with 14 management buyouts in 2014, followed by nine in 2013 and 10 in 2012.
The value of deals in the region has seen a rise for the second successive year and has more than doubled when compared to last year – the 14 deals completed in 2014 amounted to £899m, in contrast to £420m in 2013 and £349m in 2012.
The largest deals in the West Midlands were Voyage Care in August at £375m, Open International in December at £300m and the private sale of Kennet Equipment Leasing in July, with an estimated value of £100m.
John Houlden, Transaction Support Partner for EY in the Midlands said: “The West Midlands is beginning to see the pick-up in activity we expected to see towards the end of last year.
“The increase in activity during the second half of this year brought the figures up with the average deal value increasing by 37% when compared to 2013. These are promising signs and indicate that overall the economy is gently on the up and conditions are improving.”
Phil Griesbach, Partner in the Birmingham office of Equistone Partners Europe said: “We saw a relatively quiet start to 2014 but by the summer, it was evident that the deal pipeline was beginning to fill, assisted by a large number of funds being raised in the private equity market.
“If anything, these provisional year-end figures could be understated. We have seen a frenzy of activity in some quarters over the last few weeks and there is talk of further deals to be completed before the year-end. We are also anticipating a brisk start to 2015 driven in part by a desire to complete transactions prior to the general election in May.”
UK buyout value equalled £14.9bn in 2014 compared to £15.1bn in 2013. There were 214 deals completed in the UK this year versus last year’s 193 deals. And the value of buyouts to UK M&A remains at the 2013 level of 66% of all total UK domestic M&A activity.
As for exit activity, the total 2014 value is at a record £28.8bn after 2013’s £23.4bn. The IPO value is at the highest since records began – at £16.2bn. Trade sale value so far this year is almost double of that in 2013 – £7.4bn versus last year’s £4.7bn.
