Market Standards Trend Report
Trends in UK Public M&A deals in H1 2025
Industry
Public M&A activity in H1 2025 spanned a wide range of sectors, with Industrials leading in deal volume recording eight firm offers totalling £5.2bn and accounting for 24% of aggregate deal value. In contrast, Property led in terms of aggregate deal value, with six firm offers amounting to £5.6bn (26% of aggregate deal value). Technology also showed strong performance, with five firm offers amounting to £5.3bn, contributing 24% to aggregate deal value. This highlights how some sectors, like Industrials and Technology, dominated by number of deals, while others, such as Property, stood out for the overall value of transactions.
“We expect activity in H2 to continue in a wide range of sectors. We expect significant activity to continue in the real estate and tech sectors. We anticipate activity in the financial services sector will be significantly driven by trends towards consolidation between asset managers and in the insurance sector.”
“Consolidation in the real estate and financial services sectors has been an ongoing trend and so it was no surprise to see those as leading sectors by deal volume in the first half of 2025. Similarly, technology remains the global investment darling and should remain strong in the rest of 2025. Bidders in the industrials space were able to shrug off tariff concerns which is on the face of it surprising but perhaps those concerns provided buying opportunities. Global geo-political concerns continue to drive Defence stocks up, but the relatively few listed defence sector companies and regulatory constraints means that isn’t expected to be a focus for UK takeovers.”
Industrials
Despite an increase in the volume of firm offers (from six in H1 2024 to eight in H1 2025), the aggregate deal value in H1 2025 fell by more than half (55%) compared to H1 2024. This suggests that while deal activity remained strong, the average deal size was significantly smaller, with no mega-deals on the scale of the £5.8bn offer for DS Smith by International Paper Company or £3.6bn offer for International Distribution Services by EP Corporate Group and J&T Capital Partners seen in H1 2024
Key transactions:
- the £3.8bn offer for Spectris plc by Advent International
- the £366m offer for Marlowe plc by Mitie Group
- the £281m offer for Ricardo plc by WSP Global
- the £263m offer for De La Rue plc by Atlas FRM
- the £186.7m offer for Renold plc by Morgenthaler Private Equity
- the £183.6m and £109.4m competing offers for Inspired plc by HGGC and Regent International Holdings, respectively
- the £56.4m offer for Kinovo plc by Sureserve Group
In June 2025, Advent International announced a recommended £3.8bn cash acquisition of UK-based Spectris plc, a supplier of high-tech instruments, test equipment and software for precision measurement, marking the largest UK public-to-private deal of H1 2025. Spectris shareholders will receive £37.63 per share, with the transaction structured as a scheme of arrangement. The deal follows Spectris’ strategic transformation into a focused, high-margin business and aligns with Advent’s strategy of investing in high-tech UK industrials. A potential competing offer from KKR added competitive tension, though no formal bid has been made. The acquisition reinforces Advent’s long-term commitment to UK innovation and industrial excellence. The Spectris deal was the largest in the sector, accounting for nearly 72% of the total H1 2025 industrials deal value.
Financial Services
There were six firm offers in the Financial Services sector in H1 2025, with an aggregate deal value of £932m. This marks a significant decline from the circa £6bn seen in H1 2024, reflecting a shift toward smaller-cap and mid-market transactions.
Key Transactions:
- the £297m offer for H&T Group plc by FirstCash Holdings
- the £210m and £200m competing offers for Harmony Energy Income Trust by Foresight Group and Drax Group
- the £175m offer for Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust by Bagnall Energy
- the £48m offer for Kingswood Holdings by Pollen Street Capital
- the £3m offer for Argentex Group by IFX (UK) Ltd
The H&T Group deal was the largest in the sector, targeting the UK’s leading pawnbroker, which also operates as a very active financial services provider.. Meanwhile, Harmony Energy Income Trust attracted competing bids, reflecting investor interest in renewable infrastructure assets.
The sector also saw three public-to-private transactions, continuing the trend of UK-listed financial firms being taken private amid concerns over low valuations and limited domestic capital, a theme echoed in the forestry and infrastructure investment space.
“Despite the rallying call to “drill baby drill” and measures taken by the US administration to dismantle federal policies and money aimed at easing the climate crisis, there has been strong interest in renewables and green energy sectors. We expect this to continue in addition to M&A activity among more traditional Oil & Gas companies with the possibility of megamerger activity between supermajors.”
Property
The Property sector continued to attract strong M&A interest in H1 2025, particularly among REITs, with six firm offers announced and an aggregate deal value of approximately £5.6bn, the largest of all sectors. This represents a 60% increase in deal value compared to H1 2024, which saw five firm offers totalling £3.5bn.
Key Transactions:
- the £1.8bn offer for Assura plc (Assura) by Primary Health Properties plc (PHP)
- the £1.7bn competing offer for Assura plc by a KKR–Stonepeak consortium
- the £699m offer for Urban Logistics REIT by LondonMetric Property
- the £485m and £470m competing offers for Warehouse REIT by Tritax Big Box REIT and a Blackstone–Sixth Street consortium
- the £448m offer for Care REIT by Care Trust REIT
In May 2025, PHP announced a recommended cash and share offer for Assura, valuing the company’s entire issued and to-be-issued share capital at £1.68bn. The offer comprises 12.5 pence in cash and 0.3769 new PHP shares per Assura share. In June 2025, PHP increased its offer; the increased offer comprised of 12.5 pence in cash and 0.3865 new PHP shares, raising the total valuation to approximately £1.79bn. Under the revised terms, Assura shareholders retained the right to receive up to 1.68 pence per Assura share in declared and expected dividends in addition to the original offer. Structured as a takeover rather than a scheme of arrangement, the deal stood out in a market where such structures are uncommon and followed a competing bid from a KKR–Stonepeak consortium. PHP’s improved proposal received strong support from major shareholders and aimed to create one of the UK’s largest listed REITs, with a £6bn portfolio focused on primary healthcare infrastructure. The merger’s aims include, enhanced market visibility, a promised £9m in annual pre-tax cost synergies and a combined group positioned to benefit from rental growth and improved access to capital markets.
Technology
The Technology sector recorded five firm offers in H1 2025, with an aggregate deal value of £5.3bn, the second largest of all sectors. This represents a 10.1% increase in total deal value as compared to H1 2024 (£4.8bn). In contrast, deal volume remained the same across H1 2024 and H1 2025, with five firm offers in the Technology sector also being announced in H1 2025.
Key Transactions:
- the £2.9bn offer for Deliveroo plc (Deliveroo) by DoorDash, Inc. (DoorDash)
- the £1.8bn offer for Alphawave IP Group plc by Qualcomm Incorporated
- the £570m offer for FD Technologies plc by TA Associates Management
- the £7.8m offer for Trakm8 Holdings plc by Constellation Software Inc.
- the £6.5m offer for Crimson Tide plc by Checkit plc
In May 2025, DoorDash announced a recommended £2.9bn cash acquisition of Deliveroo, offering 180 pence per share and marking one of the largest UK tech takeovers of H1 2025. The deal, structured as a scheme of arrangement, aimed to combine DoorDash’s global logistics scale with Deliveroo’s strong urban market presence, creating a local commerce platform spanning over 40 countries and 50 million monthly active users. Backed by strategic alignment and operational synergies, the merger is expected to enhance growth, efficiency, and customer loyalty, while remaining subject to regulatory approvals across multiple jurisdictions.
The Deliveroo and Alphawave deals accounted for over 85% of the sector’s total deal value, underscoring continued strategic interest in digital platforms and semiconductor IP. Smaller cap acquisitions reflect ongoing consolidation in IoT and enterprise software.
“UK public tech companies were popular acquisition targets during the first half of 2025, particularly by North American bidders. UK public tech companies continue to be valued below their peers in other jurisdictions, making them attractive targets where their technology is seen as being of quality and scalable, and in the case of strategic bidders complementary to a bidder’s existing product offering to generate synergy upside. In some cases, target management are open to being acquired due to constraints associated with the significant amount of capital that is required or to appropriately invest in research and development in order to further expand, which presents opportunities for bidders with large balance sheets. As a result, we anticipate that strong interest in public technology companies will continue.“
“We continue to see a high level of interest for technology businesses of all types and expect this to continue in 2025. Last year, US private equity bidders dominated the sector, but we are currently seeing both UK and US buyers - financial and strategic - active in the market. Financial services has also seen strong activity, particularly in the infrastructure investment space where small and medium-sized players are looking to scale up. Fintech companies remain attractive targets, with strategic bidders looking to acquire businesses with innovative technology platforms as a means to expanding their product offering and to meet customer demand in this area. Private equity bidders remain interested in wealth management, insurance and royalties-driven businesses and we expect further activity in these areas. Watch out for further consolidation in the corporate finance/broking arena and the possibility of material bank M&A.”
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