Yorkshire and Humber led the North when it came to bolt-on acquisitions to build businesses, new research has found.
A total of 37 transactions completed in 2021, more than double 2019’s levels.
It came in well above the North West (24) and North East 14, analysis from corporate finance firm Rickitt Mitchell revealed.
Read more: Health-tech specialist Tunstall buys into German market as it expands European reach
The work, conducted in partnership with Experian Market iQ, found completions significantly higher than 2020’s 25 and way beyond the 18 of the previous year. Covid and political uncertainty around the shape of a Brexit deal had dominated.
The deals focus on private equity backed businesses.
Underlining the region’s strong performance, Leeds was the third busiest acquisition target city in the UK with eight deals completed, and Sheffield came in joint-sixth place with five.
Neil Mitchell, partner at Rickitt Mitchell, said: “Whilst there has been a general upward trend in the number of private equity acquisitions across the UK in 2021, Yorkshire has been one of the most active regions and ranks fourth nationally.
“Although Leeds was the most targeted city for acquisitions in the region, Sheffield also saw an influx of activity, with PE-backed businesses such as Careerpass Network, Fortus Group Holdings and Lavatech each targeted organisations in the city region.”
Deals completed across the year include two acquisitions by IRIS Software Group, a provider of mission-critical software and services - having taken Every in Leeds and Dataplan in Grimsby; Hessle-based Quickline Communications’ purchase of a majority stake in Leeds’ Boundless Networks Ltd, a provider of wireless internet services; an acquisition of several veterinary practices by Independent Vetcare, one of the largest groups in the UK.
Analysing the Buy and Build data nationally, 578 deals completed across the UK in 2021, up 56 per cent on 2020 (370) and 109 per cent on 2019 (276).
Overall deal value in the UK was relatively consistent between 2019 (£1.37 billion) and 2020 (£1.26 billion) - then leaped significantly in 2021 up to £4.56 billion.
Do you follow BusinessLive Humber on LinkedIn and Twitter? Click to join the conversation.
