Over £700 million foreign investment in North West businesses in first half of 2014

More than £700 million of foreign investment has been ploughed into North West businesses in the first six months of 2014, according to business advisory firm Deloitte.

The latest North West Cross-Border Deals Radar shows that inbound activity remains consistently high following the completion of 26 deals, worth a total of £705 million.

Interestingly, 40% of all inbound investment involved a North American corporate.

During the same period last year, there were 25 deals completed, worth £583 million.

Some of the most notable deals from the first half of 2014 include Thomas Cook’s sale of Gold Medal to Dubai-based dnata for £45 million, which Deloitte advised on; along with US investment firm Baron Capital increasing its stake in Manchester United by 2.5%. It is believed their stake is now valued at approximately US $150 million.

On the other hand, outbound dealvolumes were considerably lower (16 deals), but the value was boosted by Knutsford-based AMEC’s £1.9 billion takeover of US-listed rival Foster Wheeler, pushing the figure past the £2 billion mark.

Another key outbound transaction was Manchester City’s acquisition of a 20% stake in Japanese Yokohama F-Marinos, which will help the club strengthen its partnerships overseas.

In contrast, the first half of 2013 also saw 16 deal completions, with a total value of £3.6 billion. Again, this waslargely accounted for by one big-ticket deal – the buyout of Hindustan for £3.5 billion by consumer products giant Unilever, which operates sites in the Wirral and Trafford Park.

Aziz Ul-Haq, corporate finance partner at Deloitte in the North West, commented: “Foreign investment coming into the North West has increased by 20pc since last year and it is promising that cross-border deal volumes remain consistently high. While several big-ticket deals often disguise the steady uptick in M&A volumes, we believe the market is on an upward trajectory and we are seeing a number of businesses in the North West looking to get deals over the line.

“There is also significant interest from the North American market looking to invest into the region, which is being driven by a boom in US deal making. Developed economies continue to see the benefit of overseas partnerships and we expect this trend to continue for the remainder of the year.”

Deloitte’s North West Cross-Border Deals Radar is based on data provided by Experian Corpfin and not all deal values have been disclosed.