Daniel Black
Hello,
Blackstone looks set to continue its takeover spree among UK landlords. News broke this week that the PE giant is considering a bid for Big Yellow, following its deals with Warehouse REIT and Tritax Big Box REIT.
And in other news:
- Macquarie is to take 75% ownership of London City Airport
- Rumours abound of a takeover bid for EasyJet
- S&P Global plans to buy With Intelligence for $1.8bn
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
- Keensight-backed Nomios to acquire Intragen from FPE
- Preqin lost £30.2m ahead of BlackRock takeover
- HSBC’s takeover of Hang Seng is a sign of deals to come
- S&P Global to acquire With Intelligence for $1.8bn
- Oil giant BP quietly steps out of the takeover spotlight
- Blackstone weighs bid for UK storage landlord Big Yellow
- Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners sells half of 500-MW Scottish battery project to AIP
- Microsoft cuts fourth Nscale deal with Texas AI data center
- Australia’s Macquarie to lift stake in London City Airport to 75%
- Kibo Energy in reverse takeover for 14 GW of Aussie renewables
- Kline Hill is to open London office
- Inflexion-backed ANS picks up Sci-Net Business Solutions
- Lloyds to buy Schroders’ stake in UK wealth joint venture
- Anglo American planning to restart sale of coal mines early next year
- Blackstone swaps £1 Billion portfolio for 9% Tritax stake
- National Lottery billionaire Karel Komárek creates €16bn gambling giant
- EasyJet jumps on report of potential takeover bid for airline
- RedBird Capital formally requests approval for acquisition of UK’s Telegraph
- Inflexion opens New York office
Industry news
- Bank of England loosens banker bonus rules
- Rachel Reeves suggests spending cuts and tax rises on way
- Apollo believes there could be more buyout opportunities in Europe than US
- Private capital can help cover capex bill for European grids
Salaries and bonuses
- London banker bonuses: How a £1m bonus will be paid under the new looser rules
- Citigroup hires Joudrey to bolster UK M&A team
- BC Partners-owned firm sues ousted founder it agreed to pay €250m bonus
Job moves
- Citi hires two London bankers to advise on Private Equity exits
- Hg taps Anna Tye as partner and North America senior leader
- Hedge fund Brevan Howard is saying goodbye to the man who was briefly its CFO
- UBS taps JPMorgan’s Magazzeni to lead AI strategy
Market trends
Any bright spots for UK dealmakers?
Brexit has fundamentally changed the game for UK financial services and it’s showing up in the broader M&A market. According to UN Comtrade data, since 2016 the UK has been losing ground in major EU financial hubs. In the years immediately after Brexit, Britain’s market share dropped from 60% to 49% in the Netherlands and from nearly 35% to 28% in Spain.
Making matters worse, a recent survey found UK dealmakers’ confidence has hit a 10-year low, largely because of what they’re calling a “government credibility crisis” and ongoing economic uncertainty. That’s casting a long shadow over what might happen in 2026.
However, when you compare the UK to the US, Ogier believes that we still have some real advantages, such as regulations that are generally easier to work with and fewer lawsuits threatening deals. The big question now is whether those built-in strengths can win out over the current gloom.
If things stabilise, we might actually see the UK bounce back, especially as buyers start eyeing assets that have been reshaped by this new financial reality.
Drop in education deals
New data from PitchBook shows a sharp contraction in PE investment in the education sector this year. Amid a general decline in the global PE market, education deals in North America saw a huge decline from 2024’s $21.5bn to $7bn so far in 2025.
Europe’s situation is arguably less gloomy, its investment only tracked down to single digit $8.5bn in 2025, compared with a stronger $13.8bn in 2024. This was largely thanks to two major transactions that took place in the UK: CVC Capital Partners’ $1.4 billion purchase of a 20% stake in International Schools Partnership and Brightstar Capital’s $1 billion acquisition of Arden University.
Megadeal drives boom in media deal values
Lastly, here’s an insight into global media dealmaking from BDO and it feels like a familiar story: H1 2025 showed a slowdown in overall deal count, but the total disclosed value skyrocketed 385.5% from $12.3bn in H1 2024 to $60.01bn this year.
This boom was largely the result of the $34.5bn Charter–Cox Communications megadeal. If we remove this outlier, the average deal size stands at around $220m.
Fundraising
