Average value of deals agreed in the region doubles.

The average deal value in the Midlands more than doubled in the first half of 2012 compared to the same time last year.

Sales, acquisitions, buy-outs and other transactions averaged pounds 159 million in the first six months of this year, compared to pounds 72 million in 2011, according to the Birmingham office of Catalyst Corporate Finance. There was only a small increase in the number of deals from 309 in 2011 to 329 in 2012. Trends varied by sector with the most deals in 2012 seen in the business services sector, where deals included the acquisition of Stone based automation and IT company Capula by a Dutch company and the acquisition of Wolverhampton based delivery service APC.

Consumer products also saw an increase in deal completions, led by transactions such as the acquisition of Northamptonshire-based Weetabix by China's Bright Food Group.

Andy Currie, managing partner at Catalyst, said: "However, we are not back to pre-economic crisis levels and the key to achieving a price acceptable to both buyer and seller is the ability to demonstrate the rationale for the deal and then designing a deal structure to meet all objectives."

There was a fall in the number of transactions in the industrials sector, although sub-sectors such as aerospace attracted a lot of interest in this period.

Cross border deals continue in the Midlands with USA and Germany being the dominant acquirers in 2012. In 2011 the USA was again the main acquirer but no businesses from Germany or France invested in the UK in the first half of 2011.