2021 marks record year for MHA Tait Walker corporate finance

MHA Tait Walker Corporate Finance team are celebrating a record year in 2021 following completion of over £100m worth of deals for businesses in the North East and beyond, marking the busiest 12 months for the firm in almost a decade.

Led by Corporate Finance Partner Steve Plaskitt, the team has advised on 22 Corporate Finance transactions, including five disposals, two buyouts, five fundraising and seven acquisitions. These included working with five Private Equity Houses, out-of-region clients, and cross-border M&A involving buyers and funders across North America, Europe and the Middle East. October saw the team’s busiest month to date with five deals completed in the opening ten days.

In addition to achieving successful growth, the Corporate Finance team has continued to expand, with the appointment of John O Sullivan at the start of the year as a Corporate Finance Executive. A recruitment drive at manager level in the summer also saw the appointment of Mike Williams to further strengthen the team’s transaction support and due diligence capabilities in Teesside with further additions scheduled in the near term to support the teams ongoing pipeline of transactional activity.

This is the second year running the accountancy firm has celebrated record end-of-year growth, after closing 2020 with £100m worth of deals completed for North East businesses – all against the backdrop of the pandemic.

Steve Plaskitt, Partner at MHA Tait Walker Corporate Finance said: “It is through our clients’ growth and successes that we have been able to similarly perform strongly, whilst growing our team this year.

“We have seen fees reach their highest in over ten years. We have focused on client relationships, providing Covid19-specific support, meeting growing demand from private equity for Data Analytics and assisting other firms in the MHA network.

“Whilst on the surface we appear to be coming out of the pandemic and reverting to ‘normality’, the reality is SMEs in the North, ourselves included, have continued to work under extremely challenging circumstances throughout the last 12 months, so to end the year at a record high for a second-year running is a phenomenal testament to our people. It’s also massively encouraging to be completing such complex and strategic deals for North East businesses, helping them to grow at a time when the economy needs it most.

“The recent Autumn Budget provided a good platform for M&A activity for 2022 given that the tax conditions are relatively benign for existing shareholders, as capital gains tax didn’t increase, and as government investment in the region, the new Freeport at Teesside as part of levelling up for example, will keep the North East economy moving in the right direction.”

Lee Humble, Associate Partner added: “The last twelve months has seen an immense volume of activity and we head toward 2022 with a stable of clients looking to execute across the first half of the year.

“Fears in relation to tax increases and the post Covid bounce has certainly stimulated a thirst across our client base for activity and we look forward to supporting a high volume of deals in the coming months. Teesside remains a key area for us, and we are seeing a ramp up in volume of activity in the area, whilst Private Equity also remains a good source of opportunity for us. Cross-border appetite remains high, and should remain so in the medium term, and with mainstream banking support varying we also envisage an increase in debt advisory services as our clients start to look beyond the conventional sources of capital.”