Mergers and acquisitions are likely to slow this year, according to a leading corporate finance expert, who warned that the credit crunch would make it harder to secure funding.

"Private equity is still there but it's difficult to get the money and the market has deteriorated from a valuation perspective," said Shaun Browne, managing director of corporate finance house McQueen. "The world has changed dramatically in the past three or four months in the field of mergers and acquisitions. Our prediction is the level of food and drink auctions is going to fall fairly sharply"

Transactions in the next six to 12 months were likely to be prompted by a new CEO disposing of non-core assets, or retailers consolidating to save costs and improve quality, he added.

His pessimism contrasted sharply with the tenor of comments made last week by new Tyrrells owner Langholm Capital, which said it was hoping to snap up more brands following the £40m acquisition.

But if there were a reduction in private equity activity, it could be good news for potential trade buyers.

Langholm has already sold Dorset Cereals to Wellness Foods for £50m this year and Dutch pork company Vion is tipped to buy Grampian Country Food Group in May.

This week Premier Foods put RF Brookes and Avana Bakeries up for sale, but Browne quashed rumours of Premier being bought out wholesale. "At the current price and if credit was available Premier would be of interest to buyers. But the scale of funds is not available so it is not going to happen in the next six months," he said.