Private equity takeovers in Leeds "positive"

Leeds could see more private equity deals next year in line with an improvement to the economy, it has been suggested.

An expert at accountancy firm Grant Thornton believes that greater access to debt funding will lead to a rise in takeovers, the Yorkshire Post reports.

Will Oxley, who runs the firm’s Transaction Advisory Services team in the region, made the comments in the wake of a new private equity deal being struck in the region.

News came this week that Yorkshire Bank and private equity firm Key Capital Partners were supporting a multi-million pound management buyout of TSC Foods, based in Scunthorpe.

Mr Oxley told the newspaper: ’This represents one of very few new investments made by a private equity house during 2009 and is a positive indicator for Yorkshire and the North East.’

The private equity buyout market has been markedly affected by the credit crunch and downturn in the real economy.

However, there have recently been signs that deals could be on the rise again soon - with speculation this week linking troubled transport firm National Express with a private equity takeover bid.

There is also better news on the economic front, with GDP figures out this morning revealing that output had contracted by 0.8 per cent over the second quarter of the year.

While this fall was higher than had been expected by analysts, it is still smaller than the 2.4 per cent decline marked over the first quarter.ADNFCR-2318-ID-19280658-ADNFCR