M&A in a time of geopolitical turmoil Opinion Dealmakers are being more selective and concentrating their bets to cope with AI, tariffs and instability in the Middle East, says Jerome Pottier A trillion dollars of dealmaking in under three months should feel like a boom. By the numbers, it is. Activity is up 27 per cent year on year, and the megadeal is [...]
UK fintech stamps its authority on Europe but faces global threats Fintech The UK tightened the grip on its European fintech crown in the last year but came under growing pressure from fast-growing competitors ramping up their influence. A surge in investment in the second half of 2025 helped UK fintech hold onto the second place spot for total investment. The UK attracted $3.6bn (£2.7bn) last year, [...]
Monzo snaps up UK mortgage broker in first major acquisition Fintech UK fintech Monzo has made its first major acquisition with a deal to snap up a digital mortgage broker in a bid bulk up its “all-in-one” superapp. The digital bank announced on Friday it had snapped up Habito, a fintech firm which uses tech to accelerate the home-buying process with free online advice. The deal [...]
Foreign takeovers to propel UK M&A volumes above £50bn September 3, 2025 UK markets are bracing for a major bump in mergers and acquisitions with the total value of deals expected to top £50bn in 2025. Fresh data from the Office for National Statistics showed the value of domestic deals jumped to £3.4bn in the second quarter, up £600m from the first three months of the year. [...]
Melrose founders’ Rosebank strikes £1.4bn deal June 6, 2025 Rosebank Industries, the investment vehicle led by Melrose founder Simon Peckham, has struck a £1.4bn deal for a North American electrical components business. The acquisition of Electrical Components International (ECI), the company’s first, will be financed through debt facilities and a £1.14bn capital raise at an issue price of £3 per share. Peckham, a veteran [...]
Dust off the defence manuals… private equity is coming, say advisors December 20, 2024 London’s listed firms have been warned to dust off their defence manuals and prepare for takeover bids as private equity investors limber up for a deals offensive on the London Stock Exchange next year. After a subdued year of dealmaking through 2024, private equity buyers are expected to reignite a swoop on the public markets [...]
Diploma: Shares in FTSE 100 distribution group amid warnings of ‘tougher environment’ November 19, 2024 The FTSE 100 distribution firm reported an adjusted operating profit of £285m, up 20 per cent on last year's £237m.
UK start-up funding falls but life sciences sector picks up October 15, 2024 UK start-ups secured $2.9bn (£2.2bn) in new venture capital (VC) funding during the third quarter of 2024, a sharp drop from the $5.7bn (£4.4bn) raised in the previous quarter, according to fresh data from HSBC. The global VC market also slowed, marking its weakest quarter in over four years, driven largely by a downturn in [...]
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 [...]
City deals advisers gear up for rebound after election pushed M&A to four year low September 3, 2024 The City’s deals advisers are gearing up for a rebound in activity in the closing months of the year after election uncertainty pushed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to a four-year low in June, according to fresh figures today. The value of total deals involving UK firms, as either targets or buyers, slumped to £11.8bn in [...]