Yorkshire beats every region but London with £1.6bn private equity deals
THE private equity community in Yorkshire has had a “buoyant” nine months, completing deals worth more than £1.6bn.
According to research from the Centre for Management Buyout Research, sponsored by Equistone Partners Europe, 15 transactions have been completed in Yorkshire.
20 deals were completed in the same nine months last year, but this year’s deals have shown a “considerable” rise in value.
Last year’s 20 deals were valued at £1.1bn, while the region completed 11 deals at £1.1bn in 2013.
Highlights over the past nine months include the £720m divestment of Sky’s gambling arm Sky Bet to CVC Capital Partners, the £207m secondary buyout of global insurance technology business SSP by LDC, and the £170m sale of Poundworld to TPG.
This quarter has seen six transactions in Yorkshire, the largest number of deals outside of London.
15 deals were completed in London worth a combined £3.2bn.
There were six deals worth £126m done in the North West in the first nine months, four deals worth £1.4bn in the South East, with three deals worth £9m in the East Midlands.
Andi Tomkinson, investment director at Equistone Partners Europe in the North of England, said: “In the current market conditions, private equity houses are more receptive than ever to investment opportunities, and are willing to back the right businesses.
“This has been demonstrated by the buyout activity in Yorkshire throughout 2015 and we see no reason why this will slow down in the coming months.”
Chris Clegg, partner at Leeds private equity house Endless said: “Yorkshire is home to some fantastic entrepreneurial businesses. Combine that with a strong, pro-active advisory community and you get the perfect conditions for private equity sponsored buy – outs.
“I am confident that Endless and other PE firms will continue to invest substantially over the next year.”
