Member Article

Internation interest boosts M&As

A North East dealmaker is predicting that interest in local firms from large overseas-based organisations will boost the amount of merger and acquisitions activity across the region.

According to Angela Toner, corporate finance partner at the Newcastle office of Baker Tilly, UK companies are catching the eye of international buyers and the trend is likely to continue as the value of Sterling remains at relatively low levels.

Angela Toner said: “A large number of transactions that we are looking at are characterised by a large overseas buyer with a strong balance sheet.

“These businesses are taking advantage of the low value of Sterling and the lack of competition from UK firms who are still finding bank finance difficult to secure.

“The recent comment from the Bank of England that a continued fall in the value of Sterling would be ‘helpful’ in rebalancing the UK economy is unlikely to reverse this trend in the near future.

“We have been working closely with our network of international offices and are confident that we will complete a number of deals of this type over the next 12 months.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .