Member Article

Strength in UK regional buyouts

The UK buyout market has showed resilience during the first quarter of 2013, as UK activity accounted for almost a third of all European deals by volume and value.

Buyout activity was strong outside of London, as 88% of deals originated outside of London, as the North West outperformed the capital by 9 deals to 4.

Exits surpassed buyouts by volume and value, boosted by three key private equity-backed London Market IPOs completed during the period including: Countrywide (£750m), Esure (£1.2bn) and HellermannTyton (£420m).

Despite the fluctuating value of GDP, the UK attracted four of the ten largest exits of Q1 2013, going to acquirers outside of Europe.

Private equity backed businesses sold to overseas buyers during the quarter include Sutton and East Surrey Water which was sold to Sumitomo Corp (Japan) for £165m and the sale of Hydrasun to Bahrain-headquartered Investcorp.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .