Deal values for Liverpool professionals hit record £6bn in 2015

Professional advisors based in Liverpool worked on £6bn worth of deals in 2015, a new record for the city.

Working with financial data firm Experian Corpfin, the city’s Professional Liverpool organisation found in a report that the value of deals worked on by Liverpool advisors almost doubled last year, rising by 97% from £3.056bn in 2014 to £6.024bn by the close of 2015.

The record figure, which included both domestic and overseas deals, was largely due to Irish firm CRH plc’s acquisition of the assets of manufacturers Holcim and Lafarge for more than £5.6bn.

NatWest lending director Jeff Cummins presented the findings alongside Professional Liverpool’s Steve Stuart to members of the organisation.

Jeff said: “Liverpool based advisors were busier than ever in 2015 with deal values nearly double that of the previous year.

“There was also a big movement in Liverpool in deals more than £5m.”

He added: “The North West is one of the busiest areas accounting for 64 deals – a further improvement on the previous year which saw 54 deals.”

2015 saw Liverpool advisors involved in a number of deals with a non-UK element, with transactions involving firms in Germany, France, the US, Switzerland, Luxembourg and India.

Board member Steve Stuart commented: “The aim of the report is to provide a key insight into the mechanisms of Liverpool’s corporate finance market.

“Rather than simply looking at deals done in Liverpool, we take a different angle, examining deals that Liverpool-based advisors have worked on, irrespective of the locations of the parties in the transaction.”