All Time Low In M&A

Domestic and cross border transactions involving UK companies hit an all time low in Q4 2013 with only 99 M&As the lowest since Q1 1987 when the lists were first collected. There were 62 domestic acquisitions which involved a change of majority ownership between UK companies.

During 2013 there were 450 domestic and cross border transactions involving UK companies a notable decrease on the 965 of 2011. There were 240 domestic acquisitions for 2013 to the value of £7.7bn from £3.4bn in 2012.

Foreign companies acquired 28 UK companies in Q4 2013 a decrease of 27 compared with the 55 of the previous year. The total value of inward acquisitions was £31.1bn in 2013 from £17.4bn in 2012, similar to the levels of 2009 and 2011.

There were 4 outward acquisitions abroad by UK companies in Q4 2013 down from 7 in Q3. The total number of outward acquisitions made in 2013 was 50, down from 122 in 2012.