News In Focus
25 February 2010
Big drop in number of Scottish buyout deals last year
The number and value of private equity-backed buyout deals in Scotland fell sharply last year, according to figures from the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR).
The total value of private equity deals more than halved to £804.6m in 2009, from £1.64bn the year before, while the number of deals fell from 33 to 24 between 2008 and 2009. The average deal value in Scotland last year was £33.5m, down a third on 2008 levels, with 83% of deals worth less than £10m.
Steve O'Hare, a director at Barclays Private Equity, which sponsors CMBOR, said there was nevertheless some cause for optimism about the Scottish market.
"While Scotland's buyout market faced a number of challenges in 2009, and failed to reach both the volume and value of deals seen in 2008, it held up well against a number of other UK regions and recorded an increase in value of 34% when compared with 2007", he said.
"Taking into account the size of deals completed in Scotland in 2009, there is reason to view the market with cautious optimism in 2010.
"Maintaining momentum during an election year will be the main challenge for the country's private equity houses, banks and advisers. However, initial levels of activity in 2010 have been encouraging."