Dealmakers from Deloitte South & Wales Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) team have completed a record number of deals in 2021, advising and supporting on 17 deals with a collective value of just under £2 billion.
Closing the year out on a high, the team completed four deals in just three weeks during December, almost doubling the number of deals they advised on during 2020 from nine to 17.
The final deals of the year included the sale of Roper Rhodes to Swedish company Svedbergs and the sale of PRISYM ID to Loftware – a global leader in enterprise labelling and artwork management.
December marked the end of a very busy period for the M&A team who have provided a range of services to their clients including sell and buy-side advice, management advisory services, locked-box support and access to a multi-disciplinary, cross-border team.
In addition to the latest transactions, the team have worked on some of Wales highest profile deals during 2021, including the sale of Frontier Medical Group to Agilitas and the sale of BBI Holdings from Exponent to Novo Holdings.
Led by Geraint McGrath, a director in Deloitte’s South & Wales M&A team, the 17 deals mark a phenomenal year for the team and Wales as Geraint explains:
“2021 was a fantastic year for M&A activity across both South and Wales, as well as the wider-UK, as we witnessed a new willingness by both buyers and sellers to complete transactions to either achieve growth goals or develop new capabilities to compete in an increasingly disruptive environment.
“The past 12 months has seen an emergence of tech-based businesses looking to expand and both the Frontier and BBI deals show there is a growing appetite for businesses that can innovate at scale.
“Wales is fast-becoming a place where entrepreneurs want to be and where investors want to invest, particularly in MedTech and FinTech as these sectors have grown exponentially over the past 18 months.
“With few structural capital constraints, buy-side demand has been strong, which has led to multiple deals across multiple sectors and geographies and the uptick in activity we saw in 2021, will continue into 2022. We are already seeing the continuation of the demand and desire for investment in 2021, which is great news for potential sellers.
“2022 could yet be another record year as we are already seeing a strong pipeline of deals moving forward.”
Throughout 2021, the M&A team have worked with both private companies and PE houses on eight deals within the UK and nine cross-border deals, including four in the US as well as Europe, Asia and Australia.
