EY North teams advise on deals worth almost £650mn in Q1 2023, despite challenging market conditions

• EY advises on deals worth a combined total of just under £650mn in Q1 2023, despite the M&A market facing significant headwinds.
• Deals spanned a range of sectors, including waste management and technology.
• Pipeline is growing, with increasing activity in the M&A market expected later in 2023.

North, Wednesday 3 May 2023: EY teams in the North of England acted on transactions worth a total of almost £650mn in the first quarter of 2023.

EY’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) team provided buy-side advice to European Private Equity firm IK Partners for their acquisition of specialist utility and infrastructure support services business Ipsum Group. Completion of the transaction is subject to legal and regulatory approvals.

EY’s Debt Advisory team in Manchester also advised Preston-based recycling and waste management company Recycling Lives Ltd, which is backed by investment house Three Hills Capital Partners, in securing one of the UK’s first sustainability-linked, asset-backed facilities with Natwest Group, highlighting the continued evolution and increasing importance of sustainability in the debt markets.

Mark Clephan, EY’s North Corporate Finance Partner, said: “As anticipated, the mergers and acquisitions market has faced ongoing challenges and headwinds in the early part of 2023, which has limited deal volumes to an extent. With that said, we’re proud that our diverse teams across the North have continued to see demand and activity, helping to seal a total of nine deals in the first quarter of 2023. Our continuing demand is testament to the quality and expertise of our people, and with M&A activity expected to ramp up later in the year, we’re both prepared and excited to help our clients maximise further growth opportunities going forward.”

There was further activity in the waste management sector, as EY also provided sell-side advice to Manchester-based Private Equity firm NorthEdge and its shareholders in the sale of hazardous waste management company Future Industrial Services to waste and resource management group Augean Plc.

Meanwhile, investment in technology continued to be a key theme across the region’s deals, as EY’s Transaction Diligence team in Yorkshire provided financial and taxation vendor due diligence to digital transformation consultancy 101 Ways, as Private Equity firm Growth Capital Partners completed a minority investment in the business.

In another tech deal, EY M&A provided sell-side advice to Teesside-headquartered energy data and analytics provider EnAppSys, as the company was acquired by global Private Equity investment firm The Riverside Company, as an addition to its Montel AS platform.

EY’s Transaction Services team in the North provided vendor due diligence to AdEPT Technology Group through its sale to telecommunications and technology solutions provider Wavenet. The team also supported Sun European Partners on its acquisition of Bolton-headquartered professional services firm K3 Capital in a deal worth £271.7mn, and assisted digital solutions business Miss Group in its continued growth, providing buyside due diligence through the company’s acquisitions of web hosting specialist Sered and domain registrar business Domene.

Steven Kingham, Partner, Strategy and Transactions at EY, added: “A continuing trend that has carried over from 2022 into the start of 2023 is the appetite firms are showing to invest in technology and explore untapped digital opportunities and capabilities. The first quarter of 2023 also saw significant activity in the waste management sector, as businesses place an increasing focus on efficiency and sustainability. With activity in the deals market expected to increase later in 2023, and our promising pipeline of activity reflecting investment potential in the North, we’re excited to see what we can achieve together with colleagues and clients alike.”