In 2020, the BDO northern corporate finance team advised on 26 deals and now the firm says the market is ‘gaining momentum’ in the first few weeks of 2021

Accountancy firm BDO is reporting an “upward trend” in corporate finance activity in the North West in the first few weeks of 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, the BDO northern corporate finance team advised on 26 deals. 10 involved private equity investment. And now the practice says activity is “gaining momentum” early in 2021.

Rob McCann, M&A partner at BDO, said: “Despite a turbulent year, there was still a considerable amount of corporate finance activity in the region, including both equity and debt investment to fund a number of high-profile mergers of acquisitions across key sectors.

“While regional businesses continue to face increasing challenges brought on by a third national lockdown, we are starting to see an upward trend in activity in the early stages of the year, demonstrating the appetite and resilience of companies and investors to get business done.

“The Northern market has always been highly attractive to the private equity community, and this has played out in the number of PE investors that have pumped significant capital into the regional economy over the course of 2020.

“We expect this to continue in 2021, as investors seek to target high-growth businesses, with the potential for healthy returns, despite difficult trading conditions.”