26 October 2023
Translink Corporate Finance UK Partner, Andy Haigh was recently asked for his view on current themes in the M&A market for a piece in the regional business media. His thoughts and comments are summarised below.
Andy said: “We predict cross-border deal activity in the mid-market (which is out-performing other brackets) will remain resilient as companies seek to strengthen supply chains and apply their competitive advantages in wider geographic markets”.
Other significant factors and themes at present are:
· We see acquirors in Europe and the US being active in cross border M&A whilst China/Far East remain domestically focussed
· Well-capitalised corporates, particularly in the healthcare, industrials, energy, and technology sectors are well placed to take advantage as buyer pools are limited due to funding constraints
· Large corporates will continue to divest non-core or under-performing assets to de-lever balance sheets, raise capital to invest in areas of higher return, return funds to shareholders or optimise their operations
· Private Equity will continue to take a greater share of the M&A market. They have significant amounts of available funding and have sophisticated origination engines which, supplemented by AI, give them a competitive advantage
We continue to see strong interest in the UK from overseas acquirers looking to invest in assets in this country. Indeed, we have head conversations with numerous well capitalised corporates who are hungry for acquisitions here in their core sectors of focus.
Technology, industrials, renewables and niche consultancy are sectors that remain particularly active whilst the most active territories in terms of inward capital to the UK is typically the Nordics.
Translink Corporate Finance UK Partner Stuart Hands and Partner Don Gray have recently shared their insights into how divestiture could prove pivotal for the mid-market deal pipeline as companies look to consolidate portfolios by offloading assets. Read more here.
Translink Corporate Finance UK is a mid-market firm with a local presence, nationwide coverage, and a global reach. We execute deals in the £10m to £150m+ value range and specialise in advising upon cross-border M&A.
