New figures show that deal volumes in the South West fell after last June’s EU referendum. Pictured: Andrew Killick, Head of Corporate Finance, PKF Francis Clark
New figures show that deal volumes in the South West fell after last June’s EU referendum.
Data from Experian, the global information services group, reveal that volumes pre June 23 were up by a substantial 30 per cent on the previous year.
However, following the referendum, deal volumes fell significantly (16 per cent) compared to 2015.
Despite this, overall total volumes in the South West region in 2016 were up by nearly four per cent.
Nationally, overall deal volumes for the UK in 2016 were up two per cent on the previous year although it was also a year of two halves. Volumes pre the Brexit vote were up by a healthy 14 per cent, while transactions after the vote decreased by about eight per cent.
Once again Ashfords were shown as the most active lawyer in the South West with 44 local deals completed, followed by Burges Salmon and TLT at 23 deals each.
PKF Francis Clark were the most active financial advisers with 33 local deals, followed by RSM and Hazlewoods on 20 deals.
Andrew Killick, Corporate Finance Partner at PKF Francis Clark, said: “Despite all the uncertainty during 2016, deal volumes for the full year across the South West held up better than many predictions.
“While there were various understandable pauses during the year, especially after the EU referendum, high levels of liquidity of both debt and equity enabled those who wanted to carry out a transaction to be able to do so.
“There has been a noticeable increase in interest from overseas purchasers during the last few months. We have acted on several transactions where overseas buyers were making the most of the fall in exchange rates to reduce the acquisition cost to them, but still offer a good valuation for the outgoing shareholders.
“Looking ahead to this year, 2017, we are working on numerous new transactions which suggests that local entrepreneurs are looking to continue to grow and transact, rather than wait for clarity from unexpected political events. This could well result in a reversal of the trend seen at the end of last year.”
Andrew Betteridge, Partner and Head of the Corporate and Commercial team at Ashfords LLP, said: “We are delighted to be recognised once again as the most active team in the region.
“We have seen some significant deals in the last 12 months and while 2017 will, no doubt, bring more challenges, we believe businesses in the region are well equipped to successfully deal with them.”
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About PKF Francis Clark
Chartered accountants and business advisers PKF Francis Clark has annual revenue of £38 million, a team of more than 600 people and 60 partners. Founded in 1919, the award-winning firm has eight offices across Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. PKF Francis Clark is a member of PKF UKI which is ranked 11th in the Accountancy Age 2016 survey of top accountancy firms.
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