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Owner managed businesses looking at acquisitions - report finds

Uncertainty around the outcome of the General Election and instability in the Eurozone is not denting the confidence of UK business owners.

A comprehensive new report, led by accountants Chantrey Vellacott, has revealed that the majority of Owner Managed Businesses (OMBs) are expecting their companies to perform better in 2015 than last year, with an increasing number thinking about expanding through mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

Fifteen per cent of the OMBs surveyed revealed they are thinking of making an acquisition in 2015 – a one per cent increase on last year. Opportunities seem likely to arise as 12 per cent of owners revealed they are considering selling their business in the next year.

Almost a third of OMBs (32 per cent) are also looking at succession planning this year, with 32 per cent planning to exit or retire from their business in the next five years. As many as 30 per cent said they would never consider selling to their management team, perhaps not seeing them as not currently having the capability or drive to take the business forward.

Debbie Clarke, Head of Corporate Finance at Chantrey Vellacott, said: “For OMBs still looking to grow their business, acquisitions can help them respond to the competitive environment.

“If you can gain economies of scale through combining with a competitor and at the same time take someone out of the market, that can be a very good rationale for doing the acquisition and, as the results of the report support.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .