Private equity firms are revving back to life after the shock of interest rate hikes and funding uncertainty. Seventeen transactions of £100mn or more involving UK listed companies have been announced since January, including the £4.5bn takeover of Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) and the acquisition of three real estate groups. Now the professional services sector is entering the spotlight.
This is not a new dynamic – there were 53 private-equity-backed acquisitions of UK professional services firms in 2021, according to law firm Mayer Brown.
Since then, a number of businesses including RPS Group, 4most and most recently DWF (DWF) have been taken private or are in the process of leaving the public market, while TPG Capital approached EY this week about buying a stake in its consulting arm, according to a Financial Times report.