Yorkshire makes up half of the business deals in the North during the first half of 2022

Data from CMBOR, the centre for private equity and management buyout research, funded by Equistone Partners Europe, reveals that the total volume of deals completed in the North surpassed those seen collectively across Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales for the first half of 2022.

However, the total value of deals was significantly down compared with the same period in 2021, which recorded £12.2bn. This amount was skewed following notable acquisitions in that year. Yorkshire made up half of these Northern deals, with 10 transactions worth a cumulative £294m completed in the region in the first half of the year, a 95.9 per cent decrease on the £7.3bn seen during the same period in 2021.

The region was joint third with East Midlands in the list of deal volumes across the UK, with London taking the lead in deal activity in 2022 with 22 completed deals to date.

As for the wider UK, private equity demonstrated resilience across the board in the first six months of 2022, with 96 buyouts and an aggregate value of £19.7bn - the second highest first half figure since 2007.

Technology, media and entertainment and telecommunications remained one of the UK’s most profitable sectors, attracting sizable deals worth up to £6.2bn in the last six months.

Notable deals in Yorkshire included the £118m acquisition of York-based IT solution service provider Trustmarque by Capita plc in March 2022.

In the leisure sector, York’s Park Leisure 2000 Ltd was acquired by American real estate investment fund Sun Communities Inc for £182m, supporting the overall sector value surpassing £3.3bn in 2021 and increasing to £4.4bn so far in 2022.

Andi Tomkinson, partner at Equistone Partners Europe, said: “It is promising to see that the UK as a whole and the Northern region’s private equity markets are proving resilient in light of significant economic challenges.

“That is not to say investors are unaware of the turbulence ahead. There are clear pockets of distress however, many businesses have, and will continue to, remain active in the period ahead.”

Professor Kevin Amess, director of CMBOR at Nottingham University Business School, said: “The UK buyout industry’s continued resilience is being driven by several key, high-growth sectors.

“The significant investment by private equity into TMT is a result of the sector having become absolutely core to the running of the global economy, while investment into healthcare continues to be powered by huge demand and significant public and private spending post-pandemic.”