The management buyout market in the West Midlands has had a slow start to the year – with only 0.4 per cent of UK-wide deals agreed here.
New data shows on only two deals worth £16 million in the first quarter of 2014, compared to £4.2 billion from 47 deals UK-wide.
The Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR) research records only the £14 million sale of Telford-based Entanet International to Mobeus Private Equity Partners and the £2 million sale of a stake in Coventry-based Grenade UK to Grovepoint Capital.
John Houlden, transaction support partner for EY in the Midlands said: “The West Midlands has seen a slow start to the year with just two deals completed out of the 47 overall in the UK in the first quarter of 2014. With growing confidence in the economy, we expect to see a pick-up in activity throughout 2014 as private equity continues to support business growth in the West Midlands.”
The research, sponsored by EY and Equistone Partners Europe Limited, shows the UK as the clear leader in the European private equity (PE) buyout market, accounting for 40 per cent of all buyout value in Q1 2014.
Paul Harper, partner at the Birmingham office of Equistone Partners Europe, said: “We are witnessing more of the same – the first quarter of 2013 also saw just two deals in the West Midlands but overall, there is little doubt that the private equity market will improve in 2014. Not only are there some significant deals in the pipeline, but UK fund raising is back to peak levels – and that is likely to fuel future growth.”
