Member Article

Private equity buyouts are strongest in North West

Private equity buyout deals in the North West out-valued those made in London during the first quarter of 2013 and confirmed the region as the strongest in the UK for buyout activity.

The total value of deals came to three-times that of private equity transactions made in the capital, according to data sponsored by Equistone Partners Europe and Ernst & Young.

Statistics published by the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR) showed that nine deals worth a total £1.2bn were carried out during the first three months of the year in the North West.

London, on the other hand, only saw four private equity deals worth a total £482m over the same three month period.

This latest data represents the second quarter in a row where the North West has outperformed London by volume and value of deals, while in the first quarter of 2012, the region saw eight deals worth £1.6bn.

Figures also showed that buyout activity outperformed London deals by 27% in volume and by 33% in value during the last quarter.

Key deals over the past three months included the sale of Liverpool-based B&M Retail to U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for £964m and the £200m acquisition of Chester pub group Admiral Taverns by U.S. Investors, Cerberus Capital Management.

Steve O’Hare, director of Equistone Partners Europe in the North, commented: “Deal volumes have shown good recovery since 2008, demonstrating the confidence of funders and private equity investors in the North West.

“We continue to see high quality businesses with skilled management teams who are looking to continue growing their businesses and see private equity funding as a means to achieving this.

“Once again, the data shows that the North West is the strongest performing out of all the UK regions when it comes to dealmaking.

“It is also impressive that for the second successive quarter the North West has outperformed the capital albeit this is unlikely to remain the medium term trend.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .