The Scottish M&A market remained resilient in the third quarter of 2019, helped by a number of stand-out transactions, according to the latest deals update from the Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB) corporate finance team.

“There have been a number of stand-out transactions over the course of Q3 including the acquisition of The Scottish Salmon Company by Faroe Island based salmon producer Bakkafrost for a consideration of £516m and SSE’s disposal of their energy services business to OVO Energy for £500m,” said the report.

“Elsewhere, leading paper-manufacturer Arjowiggins successfully completed an MBO out of administration ensuring the future of two historic paper mills and the saving of 560 UK jobs.

“The Oil & Gas services sector continued to show recovery in Q3 with a number of key deals across the quarter including the sale of Aberdeen-based Proserv’s subsea communications business Nautronix to Norwegian subsea electronic manufacturer Imenco AS and leading subsea and solutions provider Ashtead Technology’s acquisition of Underwater Cutting Solutions …

“Fund-raising activity in Q3 2019 has shown no sign of slowing with technology investment continuing to attract significant fund and VC investment across Scotland, including Mercia Technologies £1.8m investment into student-engagement platform Gecko Labs and Panoramic Growth Equity’s capital investment into award-winning connectivity business Vaioni Group.

“Furthermore, leading private company valuations platform MarktoMarket successfully raised £1.75m from 24Haymarket, Techstart Ventures and Par Equity to accelerate product development and enter new markets.

“A Valuations Insight on the UK travel industry is provided by MarktoMarket on page 12, very topical given Thomas Cook’s high profile recent demise.

“As we head into Q4 2019, we continue to maintain strong positive momentum with a healthy pipeline of deal opportunities, and we will continue to invest time and resources with a view to initiating strategically compelling transactions for our clients.”