AAB hits 50 deals in 2016 for third consecutive year

Aberdeen-based accountancy firm Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB) has announced the successful completion of 50 deals during 2016, the third successive year the firm has hit that mark.

The contribution from transactions outwith the oil & gas sector was more prominent in 2016 (70 per cent) reflecting the difficult conditions for doing deals in oil & gas during the period.

Transactions in which AAB were involved in 2016 included the disposal of Maritime Assurance & Consulting to Bureau Veritas, the disposal of Sengs Subsea Engineering Solutions (“SENGS”) to Pryme Group and the acquisition of Optocap Holdings by TUV Nord.

Douglas Martin, head of corporate finance at AAB, said: “We are delighted to have completed 50 deals in each of the last three years especially given the challenging oil & gas market conditions affecting M&A activity in 2016. However, we continue to deliver strong deal flow and are pleased to have been involved in a record number of non-Oil & Gas deals during 2016.”

Looking ahead to 2017, he added: “We had a strong finish to 2016 and keen to build on that momentum. Our deals pipeline remains very positive for non-oil & gas opportunities and we are seeing some encouraging signs in oil & gas with an increasing number of larger trade players and private equity houses looking more closely at opportunities. The challenge in oil & gas at the moment of course is reaching price equilibrium between buyers and sellers but we did see a pick-up in activity in Q4 2016 and are confident this will continue into 2017.”