HORIZONS | BDO'S GLOBAL VIEWOF MID-MARKET DEAL ACTIVITY 17
UNITED KINGDOM& IRELAND M&A STAGES STRONG RECOVERY IN 2021 DESPITE DECLINES IN FINAL QUARTER
The momentum created by the easing of lockdown measures and excess liquidity in the market in H1 2021 slowed in H2 2021, with lower M&A mid-market deal activity. Deal volumes in H2 2021 decreased to 243 from 346 reported transactions in H1 2021 (30% down), while deal value also dropped by 19% from USD 35.2bn to USD 28.4bn in the same period. In Q4 2021, deal volume fell from 156 to 87 closed transactions and deal value from USD 15.7bn to USD 12.7bn in comparison to Q3 2021, equating to drops of 44% and 19% respectively. As the PE/Trade volume and value graph shows, the mix between Trade and PE-funded deals shifted slightly towards Trade from Q3 2021 to Q4 2021. In Q4 2021, there were 66 trade deals compared to 21 PE-funded deals. Trade parties
were involved in 76% (69% In Q3 2021) of all deals by volume with those deals contributed 75% of total deal value in Q4 2021 (71% in Q3 2021). Looking at the total deal count, PE-funded deals declined from 31% to 24% by volume and 29% to 25% by value fromQ3 2021 to Q4 2021, with a reported 21 transactions with a deal value of USD 3.2bn in Q4 2021, down from 48 and USD 4.5bn. Despite the decline in total value, average PE deal value increased fromUSD 93m in Q3 2021 to USD 152m in Q4 2021, a 63% increase quarter-on-quarter. In addition, total PE spend in 2021 was USD 494m, up fromUSD 377m in 2020. This not only indicates a general confidence in the UK economy but also highlights that the availability of capital and a low interest rate environment has seen competition for deals increase and a result this has helped increase valuations.
BIG PICTURE
• Q4 2021 saw declines in both deal volume and value in mid-market M&A transactions in comparison to the previous quarter • H2 2021 also saw declines in both value and volume compared to H1 2021 • H2 2021 still saw high levels of M&A activity, with deal value significantly higher than H2 2020 despite deal volume being lower • Overall, 2021 saw deal values at record levels and significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.
PE/TRADE VOLUME &VALUE
300
25,000
250
20,000
200
15,000
150
10,000
100
5,000
50
0
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013 2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Trade Volume
PE Volume
Total Value (USD M)
PE Value (USD M)
Made with FlippingBook HTML5