The Northwest has shown a certain amount of resilience to the current economic slowdown by outperforming market expectations, M&A’s Paul Driscol reports

The Northwest has shown a certain amount of resilience to the current economic slowdown by outperforming market expectations, according to new data from the Centre for Management Buy-out Research.

The organisation revealed that the value of northwest deals in the first quarter of 2008 hit £534 million (22 deals), up from £430 million (18 deals) in the previous quarter. Average deal values were also up at £24.3 million, compared with £24 million.

However, compared with the first quarter of 2007 total deal values weren’t so rosy, seeing a dramatic fall from £972 million (22 deals).

From January to March, the region saw an upsurge of transactions in the healthcare sector totalling £353 million. This sector saw no deal-making activity in the same period last year.

Nevertheless, leisure, manufacturing and TMT have been hard hit, with deals totalling £64 million, £58 million and £2 million respectively compared with £219 million, £253 million and £230 million in the first quarter of 2007.

John Walker, director of Barclays Private Equity in the Northwest, said  deal activity had defied market expectations. He pointed out, however, that: “The increase in deal value could be down to the changes to capital gains tax prompting vendors to push deals forward before the April deadline, and we will have to wait and see how the region performs in the second quarter of the year.”