UK on track for biggest year of takeovers since 2021
The UK is on course for its biggest year of takeovers since 2021 as more and more companies exit the London stock market after being snapped up by private equity.
As much as £74bn in offers was made to UK firms in the first half of the year, according to an analysis by Peel Hunt, with contested takeovers at their highest levels for five years.
US firms accounted for more than a quarter of buyers, the analysis found, with US private equity firms being offerers on 14 per cent of all bid situations.
Meanwhile, UK firms accounted for 63 per cent of bidders so far this year, significantly higher than the 46 per cent average over the last five years.
Michael Nicholson, head of advisory and M&A at Peel Hunt said: “US PE firms have met their match in the form of UK-listed consolidators.
“The benefits of greater scale and more liquidity, while preserving key assets and high-quality businesses in the UK markets, have become increasingly persuasive factors in the considerations of UK plc boards and investors when weighing up offers with share consideration against all-cash proposals.”
Concerns over takeover leaks
The jump in takeovers comes as the UK’s financial watchdog has expressed its concern after fresh figures found nearly two in five takeovers were reported in the press before being formally announced.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned the leaks, which can constitute a breach of market abuse rules, were triggering “price moves…caused by financial analysts or the media correctly predicting likely takeover targets.”
As many as 42 of the 110 M&A announcements made involving London-listed firms were reported in the media prior to any official statement about the deals between April 2024 and May 2025, according to data obtained by the Financial Times under a freedom of information request.
The regulator said it had opened 33 investigations into potential market abuse since the start of 2020, amid speculation the leaks were being used strategically, for example to fend off unwanted rival bidders in a takeover deal.
In a warning to market participants in March, the FCA said: “We have seen an increase in instances where material information on live M&A transactions appears to have been deliberately leaked to the press.
“We are concerned…by strategic leaks where inside information is deliberately given to the press by individuals at an issuer or its advisers.