BDO North advises on over £350m of transactions in buoyant market

• The M&A team across the North, including Manchester and Leeds, has advised on 10 multi-million pound deals in the last six months
• Transaction values reach over £350 million in active deals.

BDO has advised on over £350 million worth of deals across the North, as M&A activity in the North West continues to accelerate.

M&A teams in both Manchester and Leeds have completed 10 transactions in the last two quarters, which have attracted strong levels of private equity investment, as well as cross-border interest.

High-profile deals include investment in Knutsford-based Prime Global Medical Communications by US private equity firm, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners; the sale of PE-backed SaaS business Hello Soda to Acuant, the global trusted identity platform for fraud prevention and AML compliance; and the majority sale of UK promoter and event organiser UK Live to Kilimanjaro Holdings Limited – the UK subsidiary of DEAG Deutsche Entertainment AG, the Hamburg-listed leading entertainment service company and provider of live entertainment in Europe.

Rob McCann corporate finance partner at BDO LLP in Manchester, said: “Deal activity across the North has accelerated post-lockdown, primarily as a result of some pent-up activity in attractive sectors, such as technology and tech-enabled services, life sciences, and other areas of healthcare, in particular.

“Demand remains strong for these and other sectors, as trade acquirers continue to grow and diversify, whilst private equity capital remains in abundant supply, resulting in transaction volumes remaining at a healthy level.”