Daniel Black
Hello,
It’s been another slow week for confirmed deals, but a bumper few days for market gossip.
Deliveroo is mulling a £2.7 billion takeover proposal from DoorDash as consolidation in the food delivery sector continues to heat up. It’s a steep drop from the firm’s £7.6 billion IPO in 2023, but will still net founder Will Shu around £170 million.
In other market rumours:
- Bet365 is weighing up a potential £9bn sale
- Old Firm club Rangers FC is in takeover talks
- PE firms are eyeing a £1.7bn buyout for lender NewDay
Thanks for reading, and connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to discuss how I can help with your next M&A deal.
Deal Tracker
Our weekly roundup of all the confirmed M&A deals in the UK.
The rumour mill
- Reeves, ahead of US trade talks, nods to Trump’s global economy worries
- UK takeover panel gives Qualcomm more time to make bid for Alphawave
- Will the Bank of England cut interest rates in May?
- UK growth forecast to slow sharply as Trump tariffs push confidence to record low
- Unions warn on UK jobs as Airbus reaches Spirit Aero factory deal
- Family owners of Bet365 weigh up potential £9bn sale of gambling empire
- GlobalData gets takeover approaches from KKR and ICG
- Brookfield considering bidding for UK Nuclear Plant Sizewell C
- Barclays’ UK rebalancing act looks wobbly
- Whitbread, owner of Premier Inn, plans £1bn sale and leaseback to fund expansion
- Aberdeen blames single Phoenix mandate for £5.2bn outflows in first quarter
- CGE weighs £1bn Aurora Energy sale, sources say
- Bet365 owners mull £9bn sale of betting giant
- Sullivan Street eyes Senior’s Aerostructures division
- Goldman Sachs-backed start-up to buy UK sound studio in bet on AI music-making
- PE giants KKR and Pimco circle UK lender NewDay as buyout interest builds
- Deliveroo gets £2.7bn buyout proposal from DoorDash
- Mobico shares hit amid warning of “significant” loss, as it intends to sell its North America School Bus business for up to £456m
- Zodia Custody in talks to acquire UAE-based Tungsten Custody Solutions
- GSK ‘well positioned’ for potential tariffs after beating forecasts
- ‘Amplified levels of uncertainty’: Trump tariffs compound Scotch sellers’ troubles
- Anglo American shareholders approve demerger of Amplats unit
- Marlowe expects to post decline in earnings; acquires SludgeTek
- Banijay explores takeover bid for UK’s ITV,
- Bakkavor exits China with £50m sale to boost profit margin
- Sovereign-backed Shackleton to acquire IM Asset Management
- Perwyn-backed Datatonic picks up Croatia’s Syntio
- Columna Capital lines up big add-on deals, targets multiple exits
- Bunzl agrees to buy Chile healthcare products distributor HospitaliaI
- AG Barr in talks for sale of Strathmore bottled water brand
- NCC says investigating potential sale of Escode business
- Acelyrin gains as Trium Capital rebuffs M&A deal with Alumis
- Scotland’s Rangers FC in takeover talks
Salaries and bonuses
- Direct Line investors urged to reject bonus awards ahead of Aviva takeover
- The highest paying investment banks in the world, ranked
- JPMorgan paid 18 people in London more than £3.75m last year
- HSBC’s bankers confused as inflation & costs consume their savings
- BNP Paribas’ top bankers & traders had a 10% bonus hike last year, or not
- Bank of America ups cap on bonuses for top UK employees to 10 times salary
Job moves
- HSBC names new Thorsten Michalik as CEO for Europe, UK fund management business
- A&M hires names Jan Crosby as hospitality M&A managing director
- Another London bank is cutting jobs: “There are a lot of boxes in the office”
- Deutsche Bank’s head of distressed sales quit on Friday, seemingly for Morgan Stanley
- Ex-Goldman Sachs strat MD leaves London for New York CTO job
- Uber’s Bobby Morris joins Upstix as director of operations
- Freshfields hires another London infra lawyer from Paul Hastings
- 21Shares eyes headcount growth
Market trends
PE drives M&A in UK IT services
Despite a softer than usual start to the year, the UK IT services M&A scene is still buzzing with activity. The Moore Kingston Smith IT Services Index recorded only 153 transactions in Q1 2025, which is a 4% drop from the previous quarter – but private equity’s appetite remains robust.
In fact, 70% of all transactions this quarter were PE-backed, matching last quarter’s record and showing just how crucial financial sponsors have become in shaping the sector’s future.
A standout trend observed this quarter is the rapid growth of software value-added resellers (VARs), which, together with software distribution, accounted for half of all outsourcing and distribution deals – up sharply from 30% in Q4. Their primary function involves enhancing third-party software through custom modifications for end-users.
The report notes that the biggest VAR transaction in Q1 was World Wide Technology’s $1.25bn acquisition of Canadian VAR Softchoice.
A slowdown in consulting
M&A may have defined the last five years of the consulting sector, however researchers from Unit4 found that the interest for future deals is showing signs of fatigue. Despite the dynamic consolidation, where 48% of management consultancies acquired another firm and 56% were themselves acquired, only 7% are currently eyeing new purchases.
This stands in contrast to 39% of firms in broader business and professional services who still see acquisition as part of their forward strategy.
Behind this hesitation, integration complexity appears to be a key drag on deal intent. For consulting firms, aligning systems takes around 10 months on average, with financial processes trailing close behind (8 months). Only media and publishing companies were more likely to cite difficulties in the post-deal phase.
Fortune favors the brave
In the midst of global fiscal challenges, the UK’s strategic focus on business services has proven to be a valuable asset, particularly in its trade relations with the US. In 2024, services accounted for a greater share of UK exports compared to goods, with business services leading the way, demonstrating the nation’s growing dominance in sectors like finance and consulting.
In a recent FT opinion piece, Martin Wolf aptly states, “the costs of not taking the risks of failure exceed the costs of taking them… that government can and should act as a catalyst for change.”
Fundraising
IPOs
