Santander rejected £11bn Natwest bid for UK business Banking Santander rebuffed an £11bn bid for its UK retail banking division from Natwest earlier this year because it was was too low. The two lenders are no longer in negotiations, according to people familliar with the matter cited by the Financial Times, despite consistent speculation about the fate of the Spanish financial juggernaut’s UK business. [...]
UK private equity deals crash to pandemic lows Investing UK private equity deals crashed to their lowest level since 2020 in the first quarter of this year, as a tepid IPO market and geopolitical uncertainty continued to hamper dealmaking. There were only 320 private equity deals in the first quarter of 2025, totalling £18bn, compared to 534 deals totalling £28.2bn in the quarter before, [...]
Private equity market bullish on resurgence in deals Investing Private equity chiefs have become bullish for a surge in deals this year, in a rare piece of good news for the London Stock Exchange. When polled, 79 per cent of private equity general partners said they were expecting returns to rise this year, compared to just 24 per cent in 2024, data from Investec [...]
Foreign takeovers surge as buyers strike megadeals December 12, 2024 The foreign takeover raid on UK companies accelerated this year as international buyers struck a series of mega deals to acquire listed companies. In the ten months to the end of October, deals launched by foreign buyers with a UK target had jumped 55 per cent to $116bn (£91bn), with the number of deals increasing [...]
Foreign firms launch £7.8bn summer deals raid on British companies December 3, 2024 A raid by international firms on UK companies accelerated over the summer as foreign buyers kicked off deals worth some £7.8bn – even as domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&A) slumped. Foreign spending on UK companies rose by 16 per cent between July and September, thanks in part to the $976m (£769m) swoop by US-based Quanex [...]
Peel Hunt swings back to profit despite Budget hit to dealmaking November 29, 2024 City broking group Peel Hunt said it swung back into profit in the first six months of its financial year today despite the Budget weighing on dealmaking in the City. In its half year results, the London listed investment bank posted a pre-tax profit of £1.2m, a 250 per cent rise on the £800,000 loss [...]
UK M&A set for ‘sustained increase’ after Budget and Trump victory November 14, 2024 British M&A activity is expected to ramp up going into 2025, City advisers have said, as dealmakers feel more certainty following the Budget and US presidential election.
Barclays shares hit nine-year high as investment bank helps profit beat forecasts October 24, 2024 Barclays' shares have hit their highest level in nine years after a rebound in investment banking helped its profit beat expectations for the third quarter.
Goldman-backed Petershill announces bumper dividend after pick-up in dealmaking September 17, 2024 Petershill Partners has announced a special dividend of 9 cents (7p) per share after a flurry of deals and a successful asset raising round helped the private equity firm return to growth. The Goldman Sachs-backed firm, which floated on the London Stock Exchange three years ago, generated a total income of $146m (£111m) in the [...]
The secret language of City dealmaking September 9, 2024 Dealmaking on the public markets can be a dense and confusing world. Firms court each other in the public domain; cryptic, flirtatious barbs are fired across the market, and bosses on either side try to size each other up. But what do their messages really mean? What is the hidden meaning behind the jargon? From Pac-Man [...]