Household names such as Rio Ferdinand and Mike Ashley have been involved in a series of high-profile deals across the North West over the last week.
Businesses such as Boohoo, AO, Lookers and Urban Splash have also announced a string of deals in recent days.
Below, BusinessLive has rounded up 17 of the biggest deals from across the region we feel you should not miss.
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Boohoo
A hedge fund owned by one of the richest men in the world has sold almost its entire stake in fashion giant Boohoo.
Citadel GP LLC, which is majority owned by billionaire founder and chief executive Ken Griffin, has slashed its holdings from 8.9% to 1.8%, according to a newly-filed notice with the London Stock Exchange.
The move came after Mike Ashley's Frasers Group acquired a stake in Boohoo.
Circa5000
Ethical investment platform Circa5000 has raised over £1m through its latest crowdfunding campaign.
The business, which has offices in Liverpool and London, has secured the backing over over 300 investors on Crowdcube with nine days left of its campaign still to go.
The company now has a valuation of £15.7m and is targeting turning its first profit by the end of 2024 or in early 2025.
Urban Splash
A fund that owns over 300 properties across the UK has secured a deal with Barclays that could be worth up to £40m.
The Urban Splash Residential Fund (USR) has agreed an initial £20m debt facility with the bank with an additional £20m available.
Urban Splash launched the fund in June 2017 and has properties in Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Cambridge, Bradford and Bristol.
Lookers
Car dealership Lookers has agreed to a nearly half-billion pound takeover by a Canadian group.
The board and major shareholders of the Altrincham-based business have backed the deal with Alpha Auto Group, an Ontario-based car dealership chain.
The 120p-per-share bid values the company at around £465.4m.
DeliveryApp
Former Manchester United and England star Rio Ferdinand has invested in technology platform, DeliveryApp.
The television pundit has backed Manchester-based DeliveryApp, whose investors also include the likes of Mark Stott, the owner of Stockport County and property developer Vita Group.
DeliveryApp is based at Bonded Warehouse and was founded by Lance Jones who served as its chief executive from January 2021 until earlier this year.
AO
Mike Ashley's Frasers Group has increased its stake in electricals giant AO.
The retail empire, which includes the likes of House of Fraser and Sports Direct, first bought into the Bolton-headquartered group recently when it acquired shares held by hedge fund Odey Asset Management.
The firm, which was set up by Crispin Odey, had previously built a stake of more than 20% in the listed group.
SmartKem
More than $12m has been raised by a firm which makes materials for flexible electronics such as bendable smart phone displays, foldable laptops and TV backlights.
Manchester-headquartered SmartKem has secured an additional $12.2m through a private share placement.
The company indicted that it may sell additional securities in the private placement to reach a total of up to $18m.
Lime Pictures
ITV has confirmed it is "actively exploring" the acquisition of All3Media, the producer of Gogglebox and The Traitors.
The London-headquartered company is the parent of Liverpool-based Lime Pictures, which is behind Hollyoaks, The Only Way is Essex and Geordie Shore.
The confirmation comes after a report by Reuters that ITV was considering a move to snap up the production firm from current joint owners Warner Bros Discovery and Liberty Global to potentially combine it with its ITV Studios arm.
Matalan
Matalan has secured an extra £25m in funding following its takeover in January.
Control of the Liverpool-headquartered fashion retailer was assumed by its lenders at the start of the year in a move that ended founder John Hargreaves’ relationship with the business.
The group, led by Invesco, Man GLG, Napier Park and Tresidor, sealed the process after Matalan launched a sales process in September.
Matalan has now confirmed it has exercised its option to issue a second tranche of £25m super senior notes in a decision that completes the execution of the investors' commitments made in January.
Gorilla Accounting
Azets has acquired Bolton-headquartered Gorilla Accounting.
Gorilla Accounting was founded by Dan Fallows and Tim Murphy in 2015 and has grown to employ 45 people.
Mr Fallows said: "We founded Gorilla with the ambition of modernising and digitising the accountancy market for small companies and individuals seeking a hassle-free, personalised service – and we’re delighted that Azets has recognised Gorilla as best in class for those that want an online, digitally served accounting solution."
OCU Group
Stockport-headquartered OCU Group has acquired Integrum Power Engineering, an electrical engineering design, install, commissioning and maintenance contractor.
Stockport-based Integrum is the group's seventh acquisition in the last 15 months and will sit within the OCU Energy Services division.
Michael Hughes, chief executive of OCU Group, said: "Acquiring Integrum is a great move for OCU Group, especially as the UK increases its infrastructure spend in the renewable space. As we build our portfolio within this space, we’re supporting the UK’s goal of hitting net zero by 2050 and in turn, providing a greener solution for our clients."
Esken
Cumbria-headquartered aviation and renewable energy group Esken has agreed the sale of its investment in Mersey Bioenergy Holdings to UK Waste Resources and Energy Investments for £9m.
Mersey Bioenergy owns and operates a combined heat and power plant in Widnes and the deal is part of Esken's ongoing strategy to dispose of non-core assets.
Esken's investment in Mersey Bioenergy comprised a 39.6% shareholding and £7.3m of unsecured 13.5% loan notes with a ten-year term ending in November 2024.
Roydon Recycling
Palatine has made a "significant investment" in waste management and recycling services specialist, Roydon Recycling.
Headquartered in Swinton, Greater Manchester, Roydon Recycling is a partner for a range of blue chip FMCG companies, in particular food and beverage manufacturers across Europe, advising on waste management strategies to increase resource efficiency and support the circular economy.
Roydon Recycling is being carved out of the Roydon Group and current CEO, Paul Hodgkiss will continue to lead the company, with all existing staff to remain with the business as part of the investment.
MoneyPlus
OakNorth Bank, has provided a "significant loan upsize" to MoneyPlus, one of the UK’s largest providers of consumer debt advice.
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Manchester, MoneyPlus provides advice and support to heavily indebted consumers to get their finances and credit profiles back on track.
OakNorth initially provided a £6.5m loan to the group in September 2022.
iAM Compliant
Maven Capital Partners has led a £1.42m investment in Chester-based iAM Compliant.
The company specialises in offering eLearning courses to enterprise customers as well as a cloud-based estates and compliance platform tailored for the education market.
This latest funding round builds upon Maven’s previous £1m investment in iAM in 2021 completed through NPIF Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, a fund it manages on behalf of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
Record Electrical Associates
Manchester-based Record Electrical Associates (REA) has been acquired by a pressure and temperature instrument specialist.
REA operates from dedicated facilities in Stretford, Manchester, and offers analogue instruments to international businesses.
The company was initially founded over 100 years ago. REA has been sold as part of Alan Johnson and Christopher McGrail’s retirement plans, both of whom maintained active roles as directors in the business.
CMAC Group
Lancashire-based CMAC Group has bought a controlling stake in Coach Hire Comparison.
The deal for 51% of the business comes after the group acquired Suntransfers, one of Europe’s largest airport transfer companies, in September 2022.
Coach Hire Comparison was founded in 2010 while the value of the deal has not been disclosed.
