News & Analysis

The UK's five PE-backed take privates of Q1 2023 represented an uptick from the same period in 2022, but the total value, £889 million (about $1.1 billion), underscores how larger deals have grown harder to finance.

In comparison, just two deals in Q1 2022 totaled £1.9 billion—more than double. For the whole year, £13.7 billion was spent across 15 take-privates in spite of the broader decline of PE dealmaking in 2022.
 
This year's increase in deal volume early on indicates PE firms are seeing opportunities in UK-listed companies, albeit at a smaller ticket size.

The largest of the deals was Providence Equity Partners' announced acquisition of UK events company Hyve in March for £320 million. By contrast, the largest deal of Q1 2022 was Triton's takeover of pharmaceutical company Clinigen for £1.3 billion.

With UK public market valuations falling significantly in 2022, many PE firms were out to secure a bargain, with some revising down their initial offer. This was the case with Energy Capital Partners' takeover of UK-listed waste management company Biffa last year for £1.3 billion, an 8% discount to its initial offer.

While economic forecasts look less gloomy, PE firms are keen to acquire companies while valuations remain depressed.

Apollo Global Management recently made its fifth and final bid for UK engineering company John Wood at a 20% increase to its original offer of £2 per share. This values the company at £1.7 billion—an offer the company is willing to consider.

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