Member Article

North West private equity deals exceed £1.6bn

The North West’s private equity buyout market was one of the UK’s most active in 2013, with 34 deals worth £1.63bn, according to the latest data published by the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR).

The research, sponsored by Equistone Partners Europe Limited and EY, shows that the North West was only a fraction behind London in terms of volume, which saw 38 deals completed, worth £3.8bn.

This was followed by the South East with 29 deals (worth £3.1bn), Scotland with 14 (worth £469m) and Yorkshire with 13 (worth £1.16bn).

Nationally, deal values fell from £16.4bn to £13.5bn with the number of transactions dropping from 206 to 183 in 2013.

Key private equity transactions from 2013 in the North West include:

• The sale of Speke-based retailer B&M Bargains to US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for more than £900m;
• The acquisition of Chester-based independent pub company Admiral Taverns by private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management from Lloyds Banking Group worth about £200m; and
• The £73m secondary management buyout of Cheadle-based online travel agent On the Beach to Inflexion Private Equity from ISIS Equity Partners.

The final quarter of 2013 saw six deals worth £119m in the North West. This was lower than Q3 2013, where 10 deals worth £187m were recorded.

Steve O’Hare, partner at Equistone Partners Europe in the North of England, said: “Yet again, the North West continues to be one of the top performing regions in the UK and is only marginally behind London for private equity activity. The region continues to be a fertile place for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

“With growing confidence in the economy, we expect to see a similarly strong performance in 2014 as private equity continues to support growth in businesses both within the UK and internationally.”

Tim Morris, M&A partner at EY, added: “Standout deals completed at the beginning of this year, including B&M Bargains, Admiral Taverns and GHD, have boosted confidence and driven activity in the region – making the North West one of the UK’s most active for private equity buyouts in 2013.

“We expect to see overall deal activity levels increase in 2014. In particular, we anticipate more primary buyouts from large corporates, as confidence in realising good value from the disposal of “non-core” subsidiaries has returned.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .