Market Standards Trend Report
Trends in UK Public M&A deals in 2025
Public to private transactions
P2P deal volume
30 (54%) of the 56 firm offers announced in 2025 were made by bidcos backed by private equity, financial investors and/or individuals/family offices. By comparison, in 2024, there were 23 firm offers made by private equity-backed bidcos/financial investors, which equated to 42% of all firm offers in that period. The 2025 figures indicate a slight increase in P2P deals compared to 2024.
Individuals/family offices
Four firm offers in 2025 were made by bidders controlled by individual or family offices.
Anexo Group plc
The £71m offer for Anexo Group plc (Anexo) was made by a consortium comprising of DBAY Advisors Limited (DBAY) and two individuals, Alan Sellers and Samantha Moss. Alan Sellers was one of the founders of Anexo and sits on the Anexo Board as executive chairman. Samantha Moss is a director on the Anexo Board and the managing director of Bond Turner, an Anexo subsidiary. As at 14 October 2025 the bidders held some 97.5% of the issued Anexo Shares. On 15 October 2025 the bid vehicle announced it would shortly begin the implementation of the compulsory acquisition procedure to acquire the remaining Anexo shares under Part 28 of the Companies Act 2006.
Epwin Group plc
The 167m offer for Epwin Group plc (Epwin) was made by Laumann Stiftung & Co. KG (Laumann), a German industrial family group active in manufacturing and plastics. Laumann is a leading provider of construction-related product solutions and IT services. The Laumann Group offers a broad range of industry expertise, spanning PVC profiles for windows and doors, aluminium systems, PVC sheets, façade solutions, advance surface technologies, and IT consulting.
Wood Group (John) plc
The £216m offer for Wood Group (John) plc (Wood) was made by Dar Al-Handasah Consultants Shair and Partners Holdings Ltd, trading as Sidara. The company was founded by Kamal Shair and family and remains majority employees and family owned.
Inspecs Group plc
The £85m offer for Inspecs Group plc (Inspecs) was made by Bidco 1125 Limited (Bidco), a newly formed company owned by Luke Johnson and Ian Livingstone. Luke Johnson has chaired and founded various companies, including the private equity firm Risk Capital Partners which forms part of the consortium bidding for Inspecs. Ian Livingstone has extensive experience in retail and consumer-facing business, including the optical industry where he was previously the Chairman of the Optika Clulow retail chain owning over 200 optician stores.
Consortium offers
The number of consortia offers increased in 2025, with six firm offers made by consortia, compared to two in 2024. These consortia comprised private equity and investment funds, sovereign wealth funds, individuals, and corporate entities:
- Idox plc’s £340m offer by a consortium comprising Long Path Co-Investment Fund Number 6, LP, Long Path Smaller Companies Fund, LP, Long Path Smaller Companies Master Fund, Ltd. and Long Path Opportunities Fund II, LP
- Anexo’s £71m offer by DBAY and individuals Alan Sellers and Samantha Moss
- Assura’s £1.7bn offer by a consortium comprising Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Partners LLP and Stonepeak Partners LP
- Renewi’s £707m offer by Macquarie Asset Management Europe S.à r.l. and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation
- Alliance Pharma plc’s £350m offer by DBAY Advisors Limited and Edmond de Rothschild Equity Opportunities IV SLP
- Inspecs’ £85m offer by a consortium comprising Risk Capital Partners and Ian Livingstone
"The widely discussed challenges that private equity has faced in achieving exits, and in fund-raising, hasn’t really fed through to a reduced appetite from PE for UK takeovers. This shows the resilience of the PE industry and that plenty of liquidity remains in the system for attractive deals – the standout example being the contested offers for Spectris. There has been much talk recently of a return to exiting via listings, including in London, in 2026. The regulatory framework is certainly in a better place to support that, and the rumoured pipeline is encouraging, but we’ve had false dawns before and so the proof will be in the pudding"
"A return of the IPO market and in turn facilitation of PE exits (particularly where trade sales are difficult), may bolster PE capital levels looking to be redeployed alongside new funds from investors. The downward trajectory for interest rates will also boost debt finance availability for PE and more broadly. UK public markets continue to be seen as a source of decent value opportunities, relative to private markets."
P2P deal value
Despite higher deal volumes, deal values for P2P transactions decreased in 2025, with an aggregate deal value of £21.5bn (2024: £24.6bn), which represented 53% of total deal value (2024: 45%) and an average deal value of £716m (2024: £1.1bn). Five (42%) of the 12 deals valued over £1bn announced in 2025 were P2P transactions, with the two largest transactions being competing offers for Spectris by KKR and Advent, both valued at £4.2bn each.
29 (97%) out of 30 P2P transactions involved a cash element:
- 24 (80%) were cash only offers
- one (3%) was an option between cash and shares, or cash and contingent value rights (CVRs)
- one (3%) was an option between cash or shares
- one (3%) was a cash and share alternative option
- two (7%) were a cash and unlisted securities alternative
