Some 41 transactions were completed between 1 January and 30 June this year, up from 34 deals in the previous six months, and 33 in the same period in 2010.

Investments completed in the technology, media and telecommunications sector totalled 14 in the first half of the year.

Lyceum Capital and Cass Business School’s UK Growth Buyout Dashboard, which analyses private equity control deals in the £10 million to £100 million segment, shows that the combined deal value of £1.65 billion exceeds the £1.2 billion recorded during both the first and second half of 2010.

The number of transactions valued at between £50 million and £100 million doubled in the first six months of the year to 12, compared to six in the previous six month period.

However, second quarter deals numbered 17, down from 24 in the first quarter of 2011, prompting Andrew Aylwin, partner at Lyceum Capital, to warn that ‘it’s too early to say the recovery in deal volumes is firmly back on track’.

‘As we have said for the last few quarters, and as is borne out by a quiet time in May and June, it’s likely we’ll see continued volatility in numbers. There’s even a possibility that full year deal volumes in 2011 will not be that much higher than 2010,’ he explains.

Management buy-outs remain the most prevalent transaction type for private equity investors, according to the data, with 26 completed in the period. The number of secondary buy-outs rose notably, from five in the second half of 2010, to 13.

Professor Scott Moeller at Cass Business School comments, ‘The UK lower mid-market, as with the overall European M&A market, has seen strong activity in the technology and retail sectors in this period.

‘In this study, particularly notable is the strong activity in secondary buy-outs, but uncertainty in all sectors of the market can be expected to continue, despite the overall strength in the first half of the year.’

Lyceum Capital specialises in investing in UK mid-market companies.