2014 was the best ever for banking deals
CHALLENGER banks, new disruptive technology and changes to regulation made the financial services sector the busiest in terms of deals in 2014, according to new research from BDO Corporate Finance.
The latest PCPI/PEPI index from the accountancy and advisory firm shows that out of a total 4,936 UK deals completed last year, 27 per cent involved financial services companies.
The firm stated that this was “against a background of buoyant merger and acquisition (M&A) volumes”, with the last quarter of 2014 ending with the largest M&A deal volume since 2011.
According to BDO, the survey indicates any uncertainty around the May General Election is not curbing M&A activity.
Roger Buckley, partner at BDO, said: “We expect that technology and regulation will continue to act as the major drivers of deal activity, particularly in the financial services sector, where increased regulation from Brussels is forcing industry consolidation. Based on the pipeline of deals, currently there appears to be a positive outlook for deals in 2015.
“Activity remains strong and while, deal-making often takes a pause during election time, there is every reason to remain hopeful for another strong year of M&A.”