UK M&A activity stands by £37.5bn in H1 2014
Mergermarket latest H1 2014 UK M&A trend report
Highlights include:
– M&A activity targeting the United Kingdom stood at £37.5bn in H1 2014, representing the lowest half-year value since H1 2010 (£37bn) and a 12.5% drop from H1 2013 (£42.9bn)
– Only one mega-deal (valued above US$ 5bn) has been announced in the region so far this year – the £8.6bn acquisition of the Oncology division of GlaxoSmithKline by its German peer Novartis. The lack of large transactions in the country pulled the UK M&A value down this semester
– However, the second quarter of 2014 witnessed a stark improvement compared to the previous quarter (up 156.5%, from £10.5bn to £27bn) and represented the highest quarterly value in the country since Q2 2012
– Pharma, Medical & Biotech (PMB) sector, driven by the Novartis/ GlaxoSmithKline deal, was the most active industry with a 26.9% market share (£10.1bn), and is in line with PMB leading Global M&A with a 16.5% market share. The proportion of PMB M&A in the UK and globally would have been even larger if the £69bn proposed acquisition of AstraZeneca by Pfizer went through
Please see here for the full version.
