Regional Breakfast seminar

On the 2nd of April, MarktoMarket hosted its second breakfast seminar of the year in London. Doug Lawson, CEO and Co-Founder of MarktoMarket, was joined by Richard Pindar, CEO of Literacy Capital.

Key themes

On the 2nd of April, MarktoMarket hosted its second breakfast seminar of the year in London. Doug Lawson, CEO and Co-Founder of MarktoMarket, was joined by Richard Pindar, CEO of Literacy Capital.

Doug’s presentation focused on corporate finance trends and activity in the UK. In 2024, there were 5,262 deals that included at least one UK party; an increase of 5.2% compared to 2023. Similarly, deal value trended positively, reaching £149bn in 2024.

Reflecting on 2024, some of the most active trade buyers were SeventenGroup, Alliance Automotive Group and Brown&Brown Insurance. PE buyers included BGF, Foresight and Bridgepoint, while Howden, IVC Evidensia and Perspective Managing Wealth were the most acquisitive PE-backed buyers.

Looking at deal multiples, the MarktoMarket Nano Cap Index indicated that the medium EV/EBITDA  remained the same compared to 2023, but increased for all other size bands. Micro Cap saw an increase of 0.1x, Small Cap saw an increase of 0.2x, and Mid Cap saw an increase of 0.3x, indicating some stability except at the lower end of the market.

When analysing UK fundraising activity,  MarktoMarket reports a decrease in deal volume in 2024 compared to 2023, however, total equity raised was up from £9bn in 2023 to £10bn in 2024.

Richard shed some light on Literacy’s investment strategy and their ownership structure, which has led to Literacy Capital being one of the best-performing trusts in the market. Richard also provided some insight into the pros and cons of being a listed company.

The U.S market was also a topic of conversation, with Doug and Richard answering questions from the audience about the opportunity a large-scale market presents, contrasted against an initial downturn in appetite due to recent geopolitical uncertainty.

Thank you to all those who attended. A special thanks to Richard Pindar for joining and to Literacy Capital for their ongoing support. For information on upcoming breakfast seminars, please email bradley.evans@marktomarket.io.

Watch a video from the event here

MARKTOMARKET

MarktoMarket collects rich data on private businesses, particularly in the small and mid-market. Our easily searchable database allows our advisory, private equity and corporate customers to identify, analyse and price investments and monitor market trends to create their own content.

MarktoMarket’s auditable data gives users the confidence that they are dealing with intelligence that can be trusted.

To continue the discussions about how data can support your business, contact Olga Melnyk at olga@marktomarket.io.