Partner Article

Three major Yorkshire deals for PwC in four weeks

PwC’s corporate finance team in Yorkshire has had a successful summer having got three deals over the line in just four weeks, which, the firm says, is due to confidence in the deals market and increased appetite by private equity firms.

PwC’s corporate finance team firstly advised private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe, on its sale of PD&MS to private equity firm Inflexion.

The company has grown year on year and under Equistone, delivering a record turnover of £47 million in 2013 and aims to double its business by 2016.

PwC (whose London headquarters are pictured above) also advised Hayes UK, a supplier of specialist safety, testing and servicing products to the plumbing and heating industry, on its acquisition of Leeds-based Arctic Products, in a deal that created the leading player in the British market.

The merged business will have combined sales of £5 million and an international presence in the US, Canadian, Australian and French markets.

The final deal completed earlier this month with the team advising on the sale of Access Hire Nationwide and Welfare Hire Nationwide to Elysian Capital. PwC provided corporate finance advice to the vendors and tax structuring, commercial due diligence and financial due diligence services to Elysian.

Stuart Warriner, corporate finance partner at PwC in Yorkshire said: “These deals represent the growing confidence in the region’s deals market, which has seen a good flow of activity in recent months, despite it being the quieter summer months.

“We are seeing an appetite from private equity firms for ambitious companies with a strong management team and international growth potential, across a number of sectors. But there is a good pipeline of deals fuelled by trade investing and outbidding private equity for some assets.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .