By Ben Martin
Rather than deter businesses from striking deals, however,it has prompted them to prepare for Brexit by acquiring rivalsto build scale.
The availability of cheap debt, high equity valuations thatare allowing companies to use their stock to pay foracquisitions, and economic growth are all behind the surge inM&A, bankers said.
The value of M&A volumes involving British businesses roseby 56.5 percent to
Including plans by Anglo-Dutch Unilever and RELX to abandontheir dual listing structures, total deal levels hit
It means that
In
"This feels like it's going to be a big year for M&A," saidAlison Harding-Jones, the head of European,
"BREXIT SQUEEZE"
British companies are bulking up in preparation for thepost-Brexit era.
Dwayne Lysaght, the head of
"British companies are acknowledging the need to be biggerto compete in a more open, global market place," he added.
Domestic deals totalled
They include events and exhibitions business Informa's3.9 billion-pound deal to acquire rival UBM andthe sale of Standard Life Aberdeen's insurance businessto
The biggest is Melrose Industries 8 billion-poundhostile offer for aerospace and automotive parts supplier GKN, which was
Stripping out Unilever and RELX, outbound M&A volumeswere$27.2 billion, down from
TOP OF THE MARKET?
The biggest bid by an overseas acquirer for a British groupwas Comcast's potential 22.1 billion-pound proposalfor Sky, an attempt by the
Both Fox's pending bid for Sky and Melrose's pursuit of GKNhave drawn considerable scrutiny from British lawmakers.
The former has raised concerns about Rupert Murdoch'sinfluence over the
Indeed, under Theresa May, who became prime minister in July2016, the British government has adopted a more interventioniststance towards M&A by foreign companies.
In October, it proposed new rules that would give lawmakersmore say over takeovers of firms involved in the more sensitivetechnology and defence sectors.
Even so, that stance has not deterred overseas businessesfrom attempting to buy British firms, said Dominic Morris, thehead of
"Yes, you could argue the government's being more activistto some degree and people have to be mindful of that," he said."But do I think it's right up there at the top of (acquirer's)agenda? I'm not sure it is."
More worrying for the M&A bankers and lawyers would be ifthe current boom in deals proved to be the top of the cycle, asit was 11 years ago, and activity begins to falter.
"It feels very similar to 2007," said Morris. "I would sayif we're not at the top of the market, we must be pretty closeto it."(