Private Equity Appetite Soars in Q1 2021

Following an overall increase in M&A activity over the past several months, private equity confidence rose in the first quarter of 2021 following a surge in dealmaking.

According to data extracted from Bureau van Dijk, global private equity dealmaking is at an all-time high – with transaction levels increasing by almost 10% throughout the first three months of 2021 over Q4 2020 activity levels, indicating that the industry is catching up on to previous levels following the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall dealmaking in Q1 2021 has largely been driven by this considerable step up in Private Equity investment, and has been boosted by the recent announcement that Capital Gains Tax and Business Asset Disposal Relief has remained untouched in the Spring Budget, as well as other factors including catch up activity as business regroup following the lockdowns of the past 12 months.

Despite the uncertainty of the past year, Private equity raised £55.3bn in the UK in 2020, a 6% increase on the previous year and accounted for one out of every five deals completed in Q1 (up from one in six in Q4). Industry experts anticipate a strong 2021-22, with deal activity levels continuing to remain robust.

As a group, we have seen a strong demand for Mergers & Acquisitions so far in 2021, completing 96 company sales in just three months and continuing to register new interest from acquirers and investors alike.

Group CEO John Rigby commented: “We are pleased with the large volumes of transactions seen across our M&A division and are confident that we will see continued strong performance and make further progress.”

KBS Corporate’s parent group, K3 Capital Group, was recently revealed as the UK and Europe’s leading dealmaker by volume of transactions in the Q1 2021 Refinitiv Global Mid-Mark M&A Review, and currently sits second overall globally.