UK M&A activity up 58 per cent as global deals notch up $2.66 trillion total so far in 2015
UK companies contributed $282bn (£186bn) so far this year to the global M&A total, which Thomas Reuters figures suggest is $2.66 trillion for the first three quarters.
In the latest set of data confirming that 2015 has been a bonanza year for M&A, Deloitte figures suggest the value of deals involving UK companies, as target or acquirer, has increased 58 per cent from this time last year.
This is due largely to the increase of inbound investment, which hit $174bn, up 2.7 times from $64bn over the same period last year. There has been a 15 per cent increase in Europe-UK deals.
Iain Macmillan, head of global M&A at Deloitte, said: “Despite global economic uncertainty UK companies are attracting investments from all over, for multi-billion dollar deals, which is a vote of confidence on the strength of UK businesses.”
Read more: European M&A at highest level for eight years
It’s not just M&A; the UK is driving the European private equity market, accounting for €22.2bn (£16.4bn) so far in 2015 out of the €58.4bn total for Europe – 38 pre cent of all European deal value.
The Centre for Management Buy-out Research (CMBOR) analysed private equity deals across Europe up to 26 June, and found the European private equity market is on track to surpass 2014’s buy-out total of €68.6bn, with current value of private equity buy-outs for the year at €58.4bn helped by €20.3bn of deals in the third quarter.
2015 was on track to be a record year with over €100bn-worth of IPOs, although market volatility over the last three months has put a stop to that now.
Christiian Marriott, investor relations director at Equistone Partners, which sponsored the research, said: “Average European deal value is at its highest level since 2007 and with three £1bn plus deals in the UK completed, big deals are well and truly back. The UK is still the engine room of the European deal market.”
Thompson Reuters yesterday released global data showing $1.02 trillion-worth of deals were made in the three months to the end of September, an 11 per cent increase on the figure of last year, despite a drop in the number of deals. This is the first time in 15 years that M&A has been more than $1 trillion in two successive quarters.