Strong start to year for dealmakers, despite subdued outlook
The Leeds-based Corporate Finance team at international law firm Addleshaw Goddard has bucked the deals market trend, starting 2023 by completing seven deals with an aggregate value of £846m.
Among the early deals advised on in 2023 are: Equistone Partners on the equity aspects of its acquisition of Nexus Vehicle Rental; Halma’s acquisition of Thermacable; The Riverside Company’s acquisition of EnAppSys; and tech consultancy 101 Ways’ investment from GCP.
The figures follow on from a busy 2022 for the team, which acted on many of the most high-profile deals in the region, advising on 43 deals with an aggregate value of over £2.4bn over the past 12 months.
Deals in the technology & digital space led the way, accounting for around 40% of the overall tally, closely followed by the retail & consumer and manufacturing/industrial sectors.
The team’s transactions crossed all sectors of the economy, including healthcare and life sciences, energy and transport, professional and business support services, education, and real estate
AG’s 30-plus strong team, led by seven Partners, has grown significantly in recent years to service client demand, with a several lateral hires and three internal promotions over the year, including Carly Gulliver stepping up to partner.
Richard Hunt, partner in the Corporate team at AG, said: “Despite the prevailing trend in the mergers and acquisitions landscape, with most observers expecting activity to be suppressed for the first part of 2023, our team has had a strong start to the year.
“We’ve been busy regionally, nationally and internationally and our full capability across M&A, private equity and public markets means we can support our clients whatever they need.
“Increased economic challenges, energy costs, inflation and rising interest rates contributed to a reduction in deal activity in the wider market during Q4 2022.
“Those challenges haven’t gone away, but our clients continue to focus on their strategic priorities and the underlying drivers for transactional activity remain in place.
“That is particularly true in the tech sector where we saw a sharp rise in transactions in 2022 and expect that to continue in 2023 as Yorkshire continues to develop its reputation as a hub for innovative tech businesses.”
