UK M & A Lowest For Some Time

The overall value of mergers and acquisitions involving UK companies decreased in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the last quarter and remains low. Overseas acquisitions by UK companies fell to their lowest quarterly level since this series of statistics began in 1987. The value of acquisitions in the UK by foreign companies also reached the lowest level (£3.9bn) since Q2 2010 when it was £2.8bn. Domestic acquisitions fell from £1.8bn to £1.1bn, the lowest since 2009. The net value of cross border transactions was -£5.3bn. What it means is that foreign companies invested more in UK companies in inward investment, than UK companies invested abroad in outward investment. The most significant transaction abroad by a UK company was the disposal by Old Mutual Plc of Skandia Insurance Company Ltd (Sweden) for £2.1bn. The most significant inward transaction was the acquisition of Northern Rock Plc by Vigin Group Holdings Ltd. Other significant transaction included the acquisition of Kalahari Minerals Plc by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holdings Corporation. The most significant transaction by a UK company in the UK was the acquisition of Encore Oil Plc by Premier Oil Plc for a reported value of £0.3bn.