Brabners advises on £550m of deals

Brabners, which has an office in Bamber Bridge, advised on £550m of deals in 2022 as the level of mergers and acquisitions remained strong across the year.

The law firm, which also operates offices in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, advised on 127 transactions, marking a second consecutive year in which the team exceeded its pre-pandemic performance.

The deals took place across a range of sectors, including a number of cross-border transactions. Brabners also continued to support the transition of a range of businesses to employee ownership following the launch of its specialist Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) team.

Sam Mabon, head of corporate (Manchester) at Brabners, said: “While 2022 may not have heralded the long-awaited return to economic stability that firms have craved post-Covid, M&A activity held up remarkably well during a year of rampant inflation, declining consumer confidence and ongoing labour shortages.

"Indeed, after an uptick in deal activity at the beginning of the year, we’ve seen a steady flow of high value deals driven by market consolidation and we would expect to see more inward investment in the next 12 months as multinational firms look to take advantage of weak sterling."