UK Food and Beverage M&A market activity in T1 2022 (January – April) saw a dip in the volume of deals compared to the prior year period but a c85% dip in the value of deals as big deals were absent in the period.
That’s according to a new report from corporate finance house, Oghma Partners which shows that over two thirds of deals had an estimated value of £10.0 million or less. There was a sharp reduction in deals in the range of between £10-100 million.
Given the long transaction lead times – the impact of food inflationary pressures on deal activity is yet to be seen in M&A activity– current processes are likely to be subject to greater scrutiny of the ability of sellers’ businesses to pass on cost increases.
Overseas buyers accounted for 25.0% of deal transactions, down from around one third for 2021.
Financial buyers held steady backing around one fifth of transactions with the shortfall made up by an increase in UK based corporate buyers to just over 50.0% of transactions.
There was a higher than usual level of activity in the beverage sector with several niche beverage producers changing hands in the period such as Bolney Wines, 40Kola, and Broadway Wine Company.
