Skip to main content
24th January 2023

T3 2022: M&A activity falls sharply in both value and volume terms

Further highlights include:

  • 84.9% of deals had an estimated value of £20.0m or less compared with 64.0% and 69.5% in 2021 and 2020 respectively
  • Overseas buyers accounted for 27.4% of deal volume which is slightly below the five[1]year average of 33.0%. There were however some notable deals as mentioned in previous reports such as Solina’s acquisition of Zafron Foods, Lotus Bakeries acquisition of Peter’s Yard and in the last four months of the year we saw Groupo Bimbo’s acquisition of St Pierre Group and the largest deal of the year SARIA’s acquisition of publicly listed Devro (EV: £667.0m; EV/EBITDA: 10.9x)
  • Activity from financial buyers declined in 2022 only accounting for 13.7% (five year average is 18.0%) of total deal volume.
  • This has most likely been as a result of rising interest rates and reduced debt availability combined with an uncertain sector outlook which has impacted on PE companies’ ability to raise debt to fund acquisitions
  • Grocery/confectionery was the most active category for 2022. Notable transactions in the last four months of the year included Grupo Bimbo’s acquisition of St Pierre Group and S-Ventures acquisition of Juvela, the gluten-free goods producer

Mark Lynch, Partner at Oghma Partners, said: “The key issues that impacted M&A in 2022 will likely continue in 2023 with the main ones being inflationary/cost pressures as businesses will continue to battle with increases in production costs, such as wages, raw materials, energy, and transportation; the cost of living crisis as consumers will further cut back on spending across the F&B category whilst also shifting purchasing preferences to private label alternatives and higher cost of debt – both the increased cost and reduced availability of debt will likely continue to impact both PE and strategic buyers who are reliant on debt to fund acquisitions. However, despite these issues, the comparison against them will ease after the first Tertial of 2023 as we anniversary the impact of the tougher environment of 2022 which mainly took hold from the second Tertial onwards.

“As more companies get their houses in order and sort their own problems out, M&A will not be far from the mind, with many looking at consolidation opportunities which drive cost cutting and/or market share growth. Furthermore, we are already seeing some examples of portfolio cleansing. For example, the suggested sale of Princes and IFF’s recent disposal of their savoury solutions business to PAI for c. $900.0m and Orkla announcing a portfolio restructuring in October 2022 to part sell their Ingredients business. The return of the bigger transactions will inevitably boost the value of deals done in 2023 vs 2022. In our view, the decline in deal multiples and the decline in the value of the quoted companies combined with the factors mentioned above could see an increase tick-up in the volume of deals as the year progresses.”

ENDS

About Oghma Partners 

Based in London, Oghma Partners is an independent corporate finance advisory firm providing acquisition, divestment, fund-raising and strategy advice to European consumer-focused companies and investors. A ten-strong team, offering a combined track record of over 100 successfully completed deals and award-winning industry research expertise, Oghma Partners is ideally positioned to ensure companies and investors meet their corporate goals. The team includes members with extensive investment banking experienced gained in senior roles at leading global investment banks. Oghma Partners combines the tool kits of the big banks with an old-fashioned focus on the client. For more information please visit www.oghmapartners.com


Press release from Green Target.

For more information, pleade contact Jamie Brownlee via jamie.brownlee@greentarget.co.uk.