The volume of corporate deals within the food and beverage services sector reached its highest level for five years in 2022, new data has found.
There were 160 M&A deals last year across the restaurant and pub sector, according to law firm Irwin Mitchell, including The Harris Family’s acquisition of The Inn Collection Group, Revolution Bar Group’s acquisition of Peach Pubs and Greene King’s acquisition of Hickory’s – both of which appear in the Deal of the Year category at MCA’s Retailers’ Retailer Awards 2023.
Out of the deals that completed in 2022, 63% were acquisitions, 16% involved development capital being injected the business to support growth, 5% of the deals involved an investor being bought out, while a similar proportion were restructuring/refinancing deals.
Looking back, the only other 12-month period when activity was stronger was in 2016, said the firm.
The impact of Covid lockdowns and trading restrictions was reflected in the number of deals seen in 2021, which stood at just 104, while there were 140 in 2020. The figure for 2022 was only surpassed in 2018 (178) and in 2016 (185).
“Despite 2022 being one of the most challenging for the hospitality sector, pub owners and restaurant operators were still on the lookout to complete deals and grow their portfolios through M&A,” Victoria Zivkovic, Corporate partner at Irwin Mitchell, said.
“There were signs of a slowdown in activity in the final quarter but with economic uncertainty being at its highest at that point, it is understandable that volumes reduced. Although the number of insolvencies across the sector have increased recently, there are plenty of forward-looking organisations that are looking to invest in the future and take advantage of some undervalued assets.”
