PwC Delivers £3bn of Deals in Wales and South West in 2021

Financial Services , 17th February 2022

PwC’s Transaction Services team in Wales and the west of England had a record year in 2021, supporting clients on 33 successful deals, with a total value in excess of £3bn.

Whilst the team worked on a variety of buyside and sellside transactions with both family-owned and corporate entities along with institutional investors, a number of the more significant regional transactions included the sale of BBI Solutions to Novo Holdings, the sale of ADEY sale to Genuit Group plc, the MBO of Western Global with investment from MML and Future plc’s acquisition of Dennis Publishing.

Tom Ayerst, PwC’s Market Senior Partner and head of its deals business in the west of England, said:

“The level of M&A activity we’ve seen reflects significant stores of Private Equity dry powder being put to work, in combination with corporates pivoting rapidly to adapt to the way the pandemic has changed trading conditions. We have seen a number of businesses take advantage of the underlying behavioural changes caused by the pandemic, namely strong growth in online activity and e-commerce, and the increase in leisure time caused by a generational change in how we work – both of which have acted as a catalyst for growth and market restructuring.

“In 2021, I expect the pattern across Wales and the west of England will closely resemble that of the UK as a whole; we have a head start on recovery against other European countries and our listed assets represent good value. There is a lot of pent-up demand for deals and this will play a key role as the regional economy continues to recover.

“The volume and value of the work we’ve done over the last year is testament to our market-leading position; we have continued to invest in our team, giving us sector experience at a regional level across a number of sectors. This is complemented by the deeper insights brought by our national sector and specialist teams.”