Oghma Partners LLP, the Consumer Sector focused corporate finance boutique, is pleased to announce the publication of its review of disposals and acquisitions in the UK Food & Beverage Sector in 2011 and the outlook for 2012.
Key findings of the review include; a fall in value in 2011 but a rise in the volume of deals including a pick-up in volume and value through the last third of the year.
Valuation: despite the challenging trading and economic climate – the data for exit multiples suggest that the multiple paid for businesses was broadly in line with that of 2011.
Outlook: whilst the macro environment remains far from benign there are signs that the appetite of buyers remains robust. There appears a split between the ‘have’s and the have-not’s’ in the sector i.e. those with cash and those without. For the latter, disposal is the way to reduce debt and/or find working capital to grow the business. For those with cash, the current environment represents a significant opportunity for sector consolidation a ‘arguably a once in a generation opportunity’.
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