Dealmakers at Grant Thornton in Birmingham are reporting a strong second half of 2016 despite global economic and political uncertainty. The firm’s advisory teams have worked with a wide range of well-known local businesses in key economic sectors, facilitating their growth plans and also securing jobs within the region.
Notable transactions for the corporate finance team include advising the shareholders of Halesowen-based Hayley Group, the UK’s largest independent engineering inventory supplier, on the 50% investment by Descours & Cabaud in their £115 million turnover business. Grant Thornton also advised the Hayley Group on its recent acquisition of Mercury Bearings, an industrial spare parts and components business, which represents a continuation of the Group’s strategic growth plan.
Grant Thornton corporate finance director Maria Thomas said: “Grant Thornton’s Midlands-based deal activity in the second half of 2016 echoes just what we’re seeing nationally: a continuing appetite for mergers and acquisitions in the mid-market, with valuations remaining strong for the right businesses with strategic relevance or scale. With the depreciation of sterling since the Brexit vote, UK assets are more affordable than they have been for some time, which will no doubt create further opportunities for cross-border deals. And given our strong start to 2017, we’re cautiously optimistic about the level of deal activity in the coming year.”
Partner Mark Taylor and director Alex Hyde provided transaction advisory services to several key deals during the period, including advising Connection Capital on its backing of the Management Buy-out of Kingswinford-headquartered Clamason Industries, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of precision-pressed products for medical, power, consumer goods and automotive sectors.
The team also provided financial and tax due diligence to Royal Bank of Scotland on the MBO of Birmingham-based building services company J S Wright & Co and further supported Rigby Group’s private equity arm, which continues to focus on a buy and build strategy, on its acquisition of SIPHON Networks.
Birmingham-based partner Eddie Williams and his recovery & reorganisation team have already succeeded in selling several Midlands-based businesses out of administration this year. These include vehicle pressings and assemblies manufacturer Covpress to fast-growing industrials group Liberty House, securing 740 skilled jobs in the Midlands and rescuing the pensions scheme, and the Travelsphere and Just You brands belonging to the Market Harborough-based All Leisure Group to Canadian travel operator G Adventures Inc, a deal which preserved 200 jobs and safeguarded holidays for over 13,500 passengers. Other appointments included the Colson Castors engineering group in December which was sold in February 2017.
In the full year of 2016, Grant Thornton is reporting record levels of corporate finance activity nationally, completing 134 deals with a cumulative value of £4.4bn. The firm’s international network saw the firm close £1bn of deals with overseas buyers, while a further £1bn of transactions involved private equity.