Resurgence in UK buyouts

The overall value of UK buyouts has increased dramatically in the first quarter of 2010, reaching over £5 billion compared to £5.6 billion for the whole of 2009.

According to data published by the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR), 2010 has recorded the highest overall value of UK buyouts since the third quarter of 2008 (£5.9 billion). This compares to the highest quarter ever recorded in 2007 of £20.4 billion.

Encouragingly, the £5 billion of private equity-backed UK buyouts this year has already exceeded the £4.7 billion recorded in the whole of 2009. By volume, there has been a 72 per cent rise in UK buyout activity in 2010.

In addition to this, the £3.7 billion of secondary buyouts recorded so far this year (Q4 2009: £16 million) is the highest quarterly value since the third quarter of 2007 (£6.9 billion). This compares to only £955 million for the whole of 2009 when secondary buyouts constituted only 20 per cent of UK buyout activity. Eight of the 12 buyouts recorded over £100 million in 2010 were secondary transactions.  

The value of public to private (PTP) buyouts fell significantly to £62 million from £477 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, although the volume of PTPs remained level at four for both quarters. In the first quarter 2010, PTPs only represented 1.2 per cent of the total value of UK buyouts, compared to 39 per cent in 2009 overall.