North West law firm Harrison Drury has reported a significant upturn in corporate activity and is confident about growing its deals pipeline further in the rest of 2018.
So far in 2018, the firm has completed 20 transactions – including business sales and purchases, investments and fundraising – with a total deal value of £54.5m.
This is double the £27.5m value of the 48 deals the firm dealt with in the whole of 2017.
Notable transactions the firm has been involved in so far in 2018 include:
- The sale of Cheshire-headquartered County Group insurance brokers to Global Risk Partners
- The acquisition of CIC Creative by Lancashire-based Blink-Photo Ltd
- The sale of the majority shareholding in FIT Events Ltd to global events company Angus Montgomery Ltd
- The sale of Cumbria-based Bainbridge Electrical Ltd to its management team
David Filmer, head of the corporate team at Harrison Drury, said: “There are a number of factors behind this increase. I believe the underlying confidence and strength in the economy, despite obvious uncertainties, is one of those. There’s also an appetite from lenders and investors to get deals done.
“From our own point of view, we’ve built on the successes of last year. Our reputation for the quality of our corporate work, and ability to handle more complex transactions, is growing. We’re picking up higher value work as a result and our deals pipeline looks healthy.
“Whatever stage the business cycle is at, there’s always going to be a need for growth and circumstances which require businesses to be bought and sold. We have some great clients doing exciting things, which will lead to more opportunities.”
Harrison Drury is headquartered in Preston and has offices in Clitheroe, Garstang, Kendal, and Lancaster. It employs 120 staff.
