Midlands deals fall in first quarter of 2010
Deal values in the Midlands fell by 35.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2010, down from £1.48bn in the final quarter of 2009 to £956.3m, according to Nottingham information services company Experian. Research shows that PricewaterhouseCoopers was the most active financial advisor with four transactions, and Eversheds topped the league tables for legal advisors by volume with four deals worth £345.8m. Experian says that of all UK deals announced in the first three months of 2010, 10 per cent had a Midlands element. Wendy Smith, business development manager at Experian Corpfin, said: “At the start of 2010, feedback from the corporate finance community was more optimistic and talked of a more realistic approach to valuations among vendors. However, the lower number of deals tells us that the market is still very fragile. Although funding has been available where strong risk-free businesses have been involved, there is a still a funding gap, and this is proving to be the main obstacle to getting the deals off the ground.”
