The UK manufacturing industry remained resilient in 2022, with 2023 also off to a promising start.

A challenging economic environment has cast uncertainty on the sector, but in a report by Irwin Mitchell that examined deal information from Experian’s Market IQ database, it revealed that 1,344 UK manufacturing businesses were the target of M&A activity in 2022, in comparison to 1,285 in 2021 and 1,231 in 2020, its highest level since 2016. 

The UK manufacturing sector has also seen a continued interest from overseas investors, with 30% of deals coming from abroad. The US was the largest investor, accounting for 8% of deals, followed by Sweden, Germany and France.

In the latest report published by Experian regarding UK & ROI deal activity in the first half of 2019, trends have shown that the private equity market has continued to play an active role in M&A activity. While there was an 8% decline in the volume of deals funded by private equity compared to last year, 2018 was a particularly fertile year in the industry and PE houses have still been notably active in the market.

Here is a summary of private equity trends by region:

London

There was a private equity element in around 19% of all London deals, up from 17% in H1 2018.

Private equity In London has been increasingly active so far this year and, at the top end, six of the ten biggest deals of the year to date featured a private equity buyer. This included a consortium comprising Kirkbi (the Danish family investment vehicle that controls Lego), Canadian pension fund CPPIB and private equity house Blackstone, who agreed to acquire Merlin Entertainments, the leisure business behind Madame Tussauds and Legoland.

Elsewhere, satellite communications firm Inmarsat agreed to be acquired by a consortium including Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus in a £2.7bn deal, as well as TDR Capital’s £1.9bn deal to purchase BCA Marketplace, the company behind WeBuyAnyCar.

Benchmark International is proud to announce that it has placed top of the North West Financial Adviser table for the second consecutive year in Experian’s annual North West and Manchester Corporate Finance Review.

A report recently released by Experian has indicated that the volume of merger and acquisition transactions across the UK, Europe, USA and Asia Pacific region dropped by 8% in April 2015. The total number of deals fell from 1,838 in March of this year, to 1,787 in April.