Neil McInnes

Over the last calendar year, the team completed 13 deals across the country, totalling £573 million, marking 2021 as a record-breaking year, in Scotland and across the whole of the UK.

Hot sectors for the Scottish economy during 2021, which are set to continue this year include technology, healthcare and life sciences and energy.

Neil McInnes, partner and head of corporate finance for Grant Thornton in Scotland, said: “The pandemic has highlighted the importance of education and healthcare within our society, and the importance of harnessing technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of those sectors, as has been demonstrated in tackling huge challenges such as the vaccine roll out and home school learning.

“This has been a driving force behind the technology and healthcare and life science’s sector’s rise in deals, underpinned by the continued rise of medtech, ed-tech and fintech solutions.

“Private equity firms continue to be very active in the mid-market and are ready to pay good multiples for the right business, particularly those with strong ESG credentials. This is being driven by a combination of government regulations – aiming for net zero – and evolving consumer preferences, so it is no surprise we are seeing lots of activity in the clean energy sector.”

He added: “Uncertainty over possible rises in Capital Gains Tax is encouraging more entrepreneurs to test the market, signifying another year of growth ahead. We are seeing a lot of well-funded groups in key sectors pursuing acquisition as a way of accelerating growth and re-risking their strategy through diversification. It seems the same trend is happening nationwide.

“As Scotland’s fast-growing technology and healthcare and life science industries continue to flourish and the energy sector only becomes more crucial, I am very confident Scotland will continue to be a deal-making hotspot in the year ahead. We’d like to thank our clients and dedicated team for their continued efforts to make these deals happen.”