Daniel Black
Hello,
Advent International has announced a £4.4 billion deal to buy industrial company Spectris, in what would be one of the biggest recent acquisitions of a London-listed business.
It’s the latest in a steady stream of take-private deals, which has included Deliveroo, Darktrace and Keywords Studios. It’s also another rejection for KKR following, which tried to muscle in on the deal earlier this month, following its tussle over Assura.
And in other news:
- US billionaire Woody Johnson bought a stake in Crystal Palace FC
- Assura’s directors backed PHP’s offer
- The UK leads Europe in M&A deals
Thanks for reading, and connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to discuss how I can help with your next M&A deal.
Dealmaker spotlight
This week we spoke with Charlie Thwaytes, co-founder of Thwaytes Capital, on the future of private capital.
From FX strategy in cross-border transactions to tokenized equity, Charlie explained how digital finance is opening doors for dealmakers.
Read the article to find out more, and get in touch if you’d like to be profiled in our newsletter.
Deal Tracker
Our weekly roundup of all the confirmed M&A deals in the UK.
Industry news
- Is HSBC too big to manage?
- UK takeover scrutiny to be relaxed as part of industrial strategy
- EFG UK chief sees ‘clear interest’ from wealthy Americans contemplating UK move
- Liontrust full year outflows slow to almost £5bn
- UK to focus new trade strategy on boosting services exports
The rumour mill
- ABF raises stakes in government stand-off over UK bioethanol plant
- Apollo-backed Athora in talks to acquire UK Insurer PIC in potential £5bn deal
- Bridgepoint to return €2bn to investors following Dorna and Kereis exits
- Shell says it has ‘no intention’ of making offer for BP
- BP shares surge on WSJ report of takeover talks with Shell
- UK tycoon Souter’s family office seeks deals amid global tension
- Advent agrees £4.4bn takeover of London-listed Spectris
- US billionaire Woody Johnson to buy stake in Crystal Palace
- Mars’ $36 billion Kellanova deal gets US antitrust approval as EU opens investigation
- Tritax bids £485m for Warehouse, unseating Blackstone
- Warehouse REIT spurns Blackstone for Tritax Big Box REIT merger offer
- PHP raises Assura bid to £1.79 billion in latest KKR fight
- Direct Line Insurance notes executive reshuffle amid Aviva takeover
- Cavendish rejects takeover approach for M&A and debt advisory units
- Trafalgar Property confirms “substantial” transaction talks
- abrdn Asia Focus joins FTSE 250 amid Urban Logistics buyout
- LondonMetric’s takeover of Urban Logistics receives court sanction
- Downing Renewables to be bought by Bagnall in £175 million deal
- Ajax Resources strikes conditional deal for new licence area takeover
- Afentra agrees to buy stakes in two offshore Angolan oil blocks
- NAHL fails to sell critical care business Bush & Co despite interest
- Central Asia Metals raises offer for New World a second time
- Builder.ai ‘Chief Wizard’ Sachin Dev Duggal made $20m in share sales
- UK talks to administrators in case Thames is nationalized
- Blackstone eyes CMBS for £2 billion UK holiday parks financing
- One Equity Partners to sell Brush Group’s power distribution biz
Salaries and bonuses
Job moves
- RBC Capital Markets hires HSBC’s Raynsford to bolster UK investment bank
- Barclays poaches Citi managing director for wealth private credit push
- UBS shakes up investment bank leaders in financial sponsors push
- JPMorgan bolsters European dealmaking team with Citigroup’s Elnegaard
- JPMorgan hired one of Deutsche Bank’s Credit Suisse credit traders in London
- Morgan Stanley taps former BlackRock executive for UK board role
- Citi hired a Morgan Stanley MD to head EMEA ECM cash origination
- Winslow and DLG leadership team to step down upon completion of Aviva’s DLG acquisition
- Meet the female banker taking over JPMorgan’s UK private bank
- Fiera Capital managing partner Catherine O’Reilly exits
- IG Design CEO Paul Bal steps down after DG Americas disposal
- Mobico appoints CFO as school bus sale edges towards closing
- HSBC eyes AI bots to replace back office jobs
Market trends
Keep calm and carry on doing deals
PwC has published its half year M&A report, and it makes for an interesting read. During H1 2025, EMEA saw both deal volumes and values decline by 6% and 7% respectively. This was primarily because of a drop in the number of megadeals in the UK compared with the previous year. However, this modest retreat pales in comparison to more dramatic shifts taking place elsewhere.
On a global level, the Americas led global M&A with its 61% share of global deal value ($908bn), a strong 55% rise from previous year. Meanwhile Asia Pacific buyers more than doubled their investment into American markets.
The report’s authors say the path forward for dealmakers lies in embracing the “fight to quality” approach, where premium assets with strong management and proven track records are commanding competitive auctions and preemptive bids.
Furthermore PwC suggests that success in this environment demands ‘thematic anchoring’, focusing on long-term structural trends like AI disruption and supply chain resilience rather than reacting to daily volatility. “This is the time for dealmakers to be bold, find the right path forward and then stick to it, whatever the day’s news brings,” they note.
Britannia rules the sales
Despite all the gloomy headlines in recent months, the UK has quietly emerged as Europe’s undisputed M&A champion. Behind the surface concerns over Labour’s tax policies and “sticky” 3.4% inflation, dealmakers have so far written a different narrative. In 2024, 3,486 deals with a combined value of £181.5bn represent a 71% value increase, as Britain claims its lead as Western Europe’s busiest M&A market and the world’s second-most active by volume.
The momentum has carried boldly into 2025. Q2’s “summer deal bonanza” delivered 668 transactions worth £33bn, including a record breaking June 9 when four $1 billion+ deals dropped simultaneously.
Cybersecurity funding drops off
Spring 2025 wasn’t exactly kind to British cybersecurity startups, which have been experiencing their worst funding drought in a decade. According to PitchBook, VC investment fell to just £44.6m across 21 deals. This marks the sector’s lowest funding since 2015, despite cyberattacks costing UK businesses £44bn over five years and 40% of companies reporting recent breaches.
Infrastructure funding picks up
On a more positive note, European infrastructure funds have raised €40bn across eight funds in 2025 so far, capturing 81% of global Q1 commitments and marking the highest activity since 2021’s peak.
Pitchbook highlights two mega-funds that drove the surge: EQT’s Infrastructure VI closed at €21.5bn in March, while Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners raised €13bn for its fifth flagship fund the same month.
Fundraising
IPOs
- Star Capital explores IPO for German defencetech Vincorion
- Private equity-backed Visma picks London for blockbuster tech IPO
How AI agents are reshaping M&A from sourcing to diligence: Examples and case studies
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents have huge potential to make deal processes faster and more efficient. But how do you separate the tangible use cases from the marketing hype?
On July 16, we’re hosting a webinar in association with Ideals and Comparables.AI to look at how dealmakers are using AI to gain a competitive advantage and how these use cases will develop in 2026.
