2017 was a strong year for M&A in Yorkshire and it’s already shaping up to be an even more exciting 2018, says Richard Goldsack, Corporate Finance Partner at Grant Thornton Yorkshire.
A varied year for Yorkshire PLCs: Significant activity for PLCs resulting in a wide variety of deals. Whilst some were making significant acquisitions. Brandon Hire takeover by Vp and Marshalls acquisition of CPM, others were carving-out non-core divisions (SIG’s carpets and flooring business to Endless). Elsewhere some were investigating to reverse take-overs, like Animalcare Group’s agreement to acquire Belgium-headquartered Ecuphar NV, or taken-private, as was the case with Servelec.
With stock markets at an all-time high, 2017 drew to a close with Yorkshire’s only IPO of the year, which saw Sheffield-based Sumo Digital (Sumo Group PLC – LON:SUMO) floated on the Alternative Investment Market at a value of £145m. Grant Thornton has a long-standing relationship with the leading games maker and is proud to have supported in the IPO, which CEO, Carl Cavers, says is a significant step towards the company achieving global leader status within its industry. With Sumo Digital a shining example of Yorkshire’s thriving tech sector, Carl was named one of Grant Thornton’s ‘Faces of a Vibrant Economy’ for 2017, and it’s no surprise why. We look forward to continuing our relationship as the company moves forward with its ambitions.
We go into 2018 with a high level of confidence, with a number of deals already closed and more to come in Yorkshire in the first quarter, Elysian exiting Kelling Group to Alinda Capital and Complete Business Solutions receiving backing from Abercross Holdings. Here’s to another successful year dealmakers!
