Welcome to our regular deal round-up.
Although UK deal values were down 43% in 2019, this was perhaps inevitable given the unsettled UK political environment and the global geopolitical landscape which caused greater caution amongst deal makers. The financial sector, responsible for 25% of all 2019 deals, continued to flourish, closely followed by the infocomms sector. In the Midlands, 2019 deal volume declined less sharply (by 8%) than the national reduction of 13% – to just below 1,000 deals. Overall, the region accounted for 14.3% of all UK deals, making it the busiest region for deal making outside of London and the South East.
Whilst some caution and uncertainty remain, now exacerbated by the coronavirus’ economic impact, a stronger government with a clear strategy on Brexit (whether one supports that or not) is strengthening confidence and paving the way to a clearer future for UK businesses. Here at Smith Cooper Corporate Finance (SCCF), we expect to complete more deals in 2020 compared to 2019, which hopefully marked the low tidemark in UK M&A.
View issue 33
