Dealmakers from accountancy firm Deloitte’s South West mergers & acquisitions team completed a record number 17 deals last year – four of them in just three weeks during December.
The total number, with a collective value of just under £2bn, was almost double that of 2020, when the team completed nine. 
Eight of the deals were within the UK while nine were cross-border, including four in the US as well as transactions in Europe, Asia and Australia.
Among the final deals of the year were the sale of Bath-based Roper Rhodes, pictured, to Swedish company Svedbergs in a deal worth up to £90m and the sale of Berkshire-based label management firm PRISYM ID to US labelling software group Loftware.
Other deals during 2021 included the refinancing of the iconic Somerset footwear brand Clarks, the sale of Gloucestershire-headquartered water-based heating systems specialist ADEY by LDC to Polypipe Group and the disposal of Yate-based fuel storage specialist Western Global to MML Capital Partners. 
The mergers & acquisitions (M&A) team, which covers the South of England and Wales, provides a range of services to clients, including sell and buy-side advice, management advisory services, locked-box support and access to a multi-disciplinary, cross-border team.
Deloitte South & Wales M&A lead Martyn Gregory, pictured, said the 17 deals marked a phenomenal year for the team.
“2021 was a fantastic year for dealmaking both across the South West and the wider UK as clients took advantage of investor appetite to work with private companies looking either to sell or who required additional funds to enable them to expand and invest in new technologies,” he said. 
“It was evident that as the world started to lift restrictions, M&A activity had become more important to clients to enable them to reach growth goals and develop new capabilities to compete in an increasingly disruptive environment.
“Corporates were also sitting on record amounts of cash and we have seen many private companies across the region take the opportunity to grow and diversify their current operations.
“With few structural capital constraints, buy-side demand has been strong, which has led to multiple deals across multiple sectors and geographies.”
He said he expected 2021’s uptick in activity to continue this year.
“Working closely with clients and building strong relationships with both clients and potential investors has been key to this success and going forward the pipeline is just as strong, which makes for an exciting start to the year,” he added.
