BDO North completes 60 deals in 2021, as UK transactions top £46 billion

• The Corporate Finance team across the North completed 60 deals in the region in 2021
• Nearly two thirds (60%) of transactions in the region involved private equity (PE)
• In total, BDO LLP completed 435 corporate finance deals with a combined value of £46 billion in 2021
• Globally, BDO advised on 2,020 deals with a total value of $129bn in 2021. This was a 39% increase in deal volume from 2020 and 3x uplift in deal value.

BDO LLP has advised on 60 corporate finance deals across the North in 2021, with the firm completing more than 400 corporate finance deals nationwide last year totalling £46 billion in value.

Transactions which involved private equity accounted for over 60% of the deals completed, as the region continued to rebound following the disruption of 2020.

Deals spanned a wide range of sectors, with notable market activity in technology & media, real estate, manufacturing & engineering, and healthcare & education.

High-profile deals included the investment in Knutsford-based Prime Global Medical Communications by US private equity firm, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners; the sale of PE-backed identity verification SaaS business Hello Soda to Acuant, the global trusted 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.

In the listed space, BDO continued to be the leading reporting accountant for IPOs having acted on 25 in 2021, including the AIM IPOs of LBG Media Group (LADbible), DSW Capital, In The Style and Supreme.

Rob McCann, corporate finance partner at BDO LLP in Manchester, said: “The regional marketplace has remained very much open for business in 2021, as highly scaleable businesses have continued to pull on the purse strings of eager investors, with private equity funds, in particular, confidently investing significant funds into exciting and fast-growth sectors.

“With a strong deals pipeline across the firm for 2022, there’s little sign of market activity dying down, or investor appetite waning any time soon. For ambitious businesses, this presents a perfect opportunity to accelerate their growth plans and capitalise on exceptional market conditions.”

He added: “We are also delighted to have been able to recruit some talented new people and promote others during 2021. The whole team has played a crucial role in the deals we have completed.”

There has been strong activity across the UK as businesses continue to rethink their ambitions and go for growth. In total, BDO LLP has completed 435 corporate finance deals with a combined value of £46 billion in 2021. Globally, the firm advised on 2,020 deals with a total value of $129bn in 2021. This was a 39% increase in deal volume from 2020 and 3x uplift in deal value. More than half (57%) of BDO’s 2021 deals were cross-border.

Peter Hemington, head of M&A at BDO said: “2021 has been a remarkable year for dealmakers and activity has been underpinned by the resilience and ambition of the UK’s entrepreneurial businesses. Our private equity experience meant we were well placed as activity in the UK market in 2021 reached levels not seen since before the global financial crisis. We’ve seen exceptional deal values and volumes across sectors including technology and media, which continues to be one of the fastest growing areas of M&A activity for the firm.”