Market Standards Trend Report
Trends in UK Public M&A deals in 2025
Bidder jurisdiction
The UK public M&A market continued to attract a diverse range of overseas bidders in 2025, particularly on larger transactions. Of the 56 firm offers announced in 2025:
- 20 (36%) were made by UK bidders
- 19 (34%) were made solely by US bidders
- four (7%) were made by Canadian bidders
- one (2%) was made by a Bermudan bidder
- one (2%) was made by a Chinese bidder
- one (2%) was made by a consortium of bidders from Canada and Australia
- one (2%) was made by a consortium of bidders from France and Isle of Man
- one (2%) was made by a German bidder
- one (2%) was made by a Guernsey bidder
- one (2%) was made by an Irish bidder
- one (2%) was made by an Isle of Man bidder
- one (2%) was made by a Jersey bidder
- one (2%) was made by a Lebanese bidder
- one (2%) was made by a Singapore bidder
- one (2%) was made by a Swiss bidder
- one (2%) was made by a UAE bidder
"Although there is some evidence that the typical bidder’s jurisdiction is expanding beyond its historical roots in the UK and North America to other countries, there remains a degree of caution among non English-speaking bidders for engaging in processes with which they are unfamiliar. However, we have seen an increasing willingness among continental clients to consider UK takeover targets and expect this trend to continue."
Overseas bidders were involved in firm offers with an aggregate deal value of £32.3bn (2024: £36.9bn), representing 80% of the aggregate deal value for all firm offers during 2025 (2024: 67%).
Although the statistics support a conclusion that the vast majority of UK takeovers are still made by UK or North American bidders, there has been a clear increase in the number of bidders from other jurisdictions, including the Middle East, Asia and continental Europe. This suggests a growing willingness for non-UK corporates to pursue attractive UK targets.
US bidders were involved in 19 firm offers, representing 34% of total firm offers, with an aggregate deal value of £24.7bn, representing 61% of aggregate deal value in 2025. By contrast, in 2024, US bidders were involved in 16 firm offers (29% of total) with an aggregate deal value of £18.9bn (34% of aggregate deal value for all firm offers).
Photo by Amir Mortezaie on Unsplash
Photo by Amir Mortezaie on Unsplash