Mid-market confidence drives £500m of corporate finance deals for Grant Thornton in Scotland

Grant Thornton in Scotland is reporting an optimistic outlook for the country’s mid-market business community following a raft of multi-million pound deals throughout last year.

The global firm’s Corporate Finance team in Scotland completed deals collectively worth more than £500 million during 2017 and director of corporate finance, Neil McInnes, said: “The team has had a tremendous 2017, achieving some exceptional outcomes for our clients on both buy and sell-side. I’m confident that this positive momentum will be sustained during 2018 as we’re increasingly seen as the go-to firm for growth in the mid-market.

Throughout the UK, Grant Thornton’s Corporate Finance team was involved in a total of 179 transactions in the 2017 calendar year with a total transaction value of £5.5 billion. This represents a 25 per cent increase in the volume of completed transactions over 2016 for the M&A team, with an average transaction value of £31 million.

Of these transactions, over a quarter (26 per cent) were cross-border deals, highlighting the continued interest from international firms in gaining a foothold in the UK and the continued drive to develop international markets. One third (33 per cent) of transactions involved private equity (PE) backing – an increase of 28 per cent on the previous year – demonstrating the continued resilience of the PE market and the significant level of ‘dry powder’ for investment.

In Scotland, a number of deals have already completed in 2018, including the sale of specialist mounted access platform hire company Outreach Access, to Business Growth Fund-backed High Access Maintenance Group, and the acquisition by energy research, analysis and consulting specialist for exploration and oilfield services markets, Westwood Global Energy, of RigLogix from DHI Group, Inc.