Grant Thornton tops league table of UK M&A advisers

Leading business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP is ranked as the UK’s number one financial adviser by deal volume, in the latest Experian MarketIQ M&A Review. The accolade comes as the firm celebrates a record year for deal activity.

Grant Thornton’s deals and business consulting practice reached record highs for deal activity in 2021, completing 295 transactions overall with a disclosed transaction value of over £10billion.

This is the highest number of deals ever recorded by the firm, far surpassing the previous high of 179 deals recorded on Experian in 2019, and more than double the number of deals recorded in 2020 (107).

Throughout the year, Grant Thornton acted on deals in both buy and sell-side capacities across a variety of sectors throughout the UK. Notable transactions the firm advised on in 2021 include:

• advised sustainable nappy brand, Bambino Mio, through a highly competitive auction process to secure £13million investment from BGF, which will support it to expand and accelerate its growth in the UK and internationally
• advised the shareholders of National Education Group Limited on a minority investment to help support its domestic and international expansion programme, whilst also allowing the owners to de-risk a proportion of their equity holding
• advised on the sale of Sequence Care Group to Intriva Capital, from initial marketing through to deal completion. The firm was appointed as corporate finance and tax advisers to the shareholders, running a highly competitive process which generated significant interest from trade, infrastructure funds and the international private equity community
• worked closely with Devolver Digital Inc. and its adviser to support and prepare them for each stage of their IPO process and for reporting requirements post-IPO. The transaction utilised the firm’s significant and relevant sector knowledge and experience across audit, tax, due diligence and finance office consulting

The Experian MarketIQ M&A Review also recognised Grant Thornton’s regional presence, ranking the firm as top adviser (by volume) in London, the Midlands and Wales, along with a strong presence in other regions.

Commenting on the league table results, Darren Bear, Head of Deals and Business Consulting, Grant Thornton UK LLP, said:

"This ranking is brilliant recognition of, and testament to, the dedication and hard work of every single person across our deals and business consulting team over the last year. We have just come off a record 12 months for deal activity, as global liquidity remains high and strong corporate balance sheets are driving significant levels of activity across all sectors. The environment that we operate in will continue to change, increasing inflation and challenging global supply chains will cause different challenges across many sectors but we have a market leading team ready to help our clients across the UK grasp opportunities and navigate business change.”

The news follows Grant Thornton also rising three places to 4th in the Refinitiv UK mid-market league tables. The firm also ranked 5th in the Mergermarket 2021 league table rankings, up five places compared to 2020.