Midlands top of the regional table for US outbound M&A deals

RESEARCH from accountancy and advisory firm Deloitte has revealed that the Midlands had the largest number of US outbound M&A deals outside of London and the South East last year.

The UK-US M&A deal ‘corridor’ reached £60bn in 2015, and is expected to increase in 2016.
 
Last year outbound M&A activity from US buyers into the UK reached £32.7bn, while outbound M&A from the UK to the US was worth £25.6 bn.

By volume, US acquirers completed 322 M&A deals in the UK, whilst the UK managed 176 deals in the US last year.

This means within the trading block of North America and Europe, the bilateral cross-border deal corridor between the US and UK is the most active.

Looking back over the past ten quarters to end of 2013, the greatest number of US outbound M&A deals outside of London (262) and the South East (146) was the Midlands, with the East Midlands seeing 31 deals and the West Midlands 25.
 
Darren Boocock, corporate finance partner at Deloitte in Birmingham, said: “Our Midlands M&A team have experienced first-hand the surge in activity within the US/UK corridor.

“Over the past 12 months we have been involved in a number of transactions with a US dimension. These include the sale of Spearhead International to Paine & Partners LLP, a US private equity house, acquisition support to Meggitt plc on the purchase of Cobham’s advanced composites division based in the U.S. and supporting Ultra on their acquisition of EPD from Kratos.”
 
Pauline Biddle, practice senior partner for Deloitte in the Midlands, said: “The report shows the increasingly critical role that cities outside of London and the South East are playing in the overall success of attracting investment to the UK, something that we – here in the Midlands ‘Engine’ – know only too well.

“From the areas we’re already world-famous for, such as manufacturing, to those where we have built up an enviable reputation in the last five to ten years, such as consumer business, the Midlands is increasingly drawing attention away from London.”