New report published by Professional Liverpool in association with financial information specialist Experian Corpfin reveals total deal values were £342m – a 13% drop. Tony McDonough reports.

Liverpool-based professional advisors worked on deals worth £342m in 2016 – a fall of 13% from the previous year.

In a report published by Professional Liverpool in association with financial information specialist Experian Corpfin, it was revealed the volume of deals also fell by 17% from 87 transactions in 2015 to 72 last year.

It also showed 87% of the deals by Liverpool-based advisors were valued at £5m-plus.

As in previous years, 2016 saw the strongest deal activity taking place in the first half of the year.

However, despite the uncertainty of the Brexit vote in the summer, November was the busiest month in value terms, with three deals of value greater than £10m.

In terms of sectors, wholesale and retail experienced its busiest year in a decade, totalling 29 deals and overtaking the manufacturing sector from 2015, while the property sector recorded the lowest number of deals.

Presenting the findings to Professional Liverpool’s members on behalf of the corporate finance group were Jeff Cummins, relationship director NatWest commercial & private banking, and John Bennington, national account manager at Experian Corpfin.

Mr Cummins said: “2016 has been an interesting year in terms of the financial sector, with the increasing availability of alternative sources of finance, in many cases providing deal support alongside traditional options.

“Despite Liverpool-based advisors acting on a lower number of deals in 2016, increased acquisition volumes were seen across the region, with the wholesale and retail sectors featuring strongly.

“It is encouraging to see private equity-backed deals rebounding following a disappointing 2015, however the region appears to be lagging behind other parts of the UK in this respect.”