Daniel Black
Hello,
Last week’s minor drama over the collapse of the Telegraph’s sale to RedBird might already have reached a resolution. Daily Mail owner DMGT has quickly struck a £500m deal to buy the rival newspaper, with the UK government promising to help push through the sale ‘without further delay.’
And in other news:
- Revolut is now worth $75bn after secondary share sale
- An ex-Jefferies banker has been charged with insider trading
- Unilever is considering selling its Marmite and Bovril brands
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
- Revolut worth $75bn after secondary share sale
- Aviva to divest from DLG’s By Miles after acquisition
- Rio Tinto reportedly prepares to sell US Boron Assets in potentially $2bn deal
- Hg to sell Intelerad at $2.3bn valuation after five-year hold to GE HealthCare
- BHP’s failed bids for Anglo lay bare mining group’s struggles to find growth
- Proposed Teck-Anglo merger is subject to national security review, Canada says
- Omni scores 4.5x return on iPlace Global sale
- EU antitrust regulators pause probe into MMG’s Anglo American deal
- Anglo-Teck merger wins support from ISS, Glass Lewis
- UK minister aims for ‘timely sale’ of Telegraph to Daily Mail owner
- ‘Auction from hell’: Mail seeks final say in tortuous Telegraph sale
- Daily Mail owner strikes £500m deal for Telegraph
- Paramount makes surprise knockout bid for UK Champions League rights
- Asda raises almost £600m in supermarket sell-off
- Unilever considers selling British brands Marmite, Bovril, sources say
- Sona eyes opportunities in Europe’s credit market upheaval
- Asurion nears £2bn deal to buy domestic and general
- British Airways owner IAG joins race for stake in Portugal’s TAP
- Ex-Jefferies banker charged with insider trading by UK’s FCA
- Barclays reportedly taps Macquarie’s Tim Alden to lead Aerospace & Defense
- FMD to acquire IMI’s Truflo Marine in £225m deal
- GRID signs deal to buy 100-MW battery project in West Yorkshire
Industry news
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ UK Autumn Budget confirmed a three-year stamp duty exemption for newly listed companies on the LSE, a “mansion tax” on properties over £2m, and extended freezes on income tax thresholds until 2031, raising UK taxes to a record high of 38% share of GDP.
- Vanguard plans to buy more gilts as UK Budget calms investor nerves
- Why London’s once-vibrant stock market is in a rut
- UK borrowing overshoots expectations and retail sales dive before Budget
- JPMorgan unveils plans to build new 3m square foot UK headquarters
- Accountancy body calls for audit reforms as PwC under scrutiny over WHSmith
Salaries and bonuses
Job moves
- Hedge fund Brevan Howard’s ex-top technologist joined the best tech stack in London
- RBC Capital Markets taps Barclays’ Chhibbar to lead European healthcare
- Advent’s Europe head leaves UK for Luxembourg
- Mayer Brown promotes four London partners in reduced round
- JPMorgan’s new UK private bank boss gets to work
Market trends
European M&A multiples recover
European dealmakers shook off their tariff jitters in Q3, driving EBITDA multiples from a second-quarter low of 7.9x back to a healthy 11.9x, comfortably in line with the five-year average of 11.6x, according to Dealogic.
High-multiple tech deals have driven valuations higher, including KKR’s £4.2bn take-private of London-listed Spectris at 20x 2024 EBITDA.
Meanwhile, European deal volume reached €134bn in October, the highest monthly tally since December 2021. Year-to-date volume through October totaled €737bn, up 21% vs 2024. With valuations expanding and deal flow accelerating, European M&A is positioned for a strong finish to the year.
UK leads business expectations despite subdued optimism
UK business confidence registered a modest improvement in October 2025, reaching a net balance of +33%, marginally up from +32% in June.
While this marks a recovery from the sharp decline observed in February 2025 (+24%), sentiment remains below the long-term average of +43%.
That said, UK businesses continue to outpace their European counterparts, with Euro area confidence falling to a 12-month low of +17%, while global sentiment holds steady at +24%. Services firms posted a net balance of +32%, slightly trailing manufacturing at +38%, though construction sector optimism weakened notably to its lowest level in three years at +17%.
Challenges and opportunities
Looking at opportunity areas, UK firms identify new business acquisition (14%) and export growth (14%) as primary bright spots, followed by market expansion (12%) and product development (8%).
AI and digital transformation rank as the fifth-largest opportunity at 7%, alongside efficiency improvements and exploiting competitor weaknesses as rivals exit due to margin pressures.
Business challenges center on government policy uncertainty, macroeconomic instability, and rising operational costs. Anticipated tax increases, employment law changes, and concerns around the Autumn Budget have created hesitancy, particularly affecting capital expenditure decisions.
Revival in convertible bond market
And finally, analysis in Dealogic shows that Ferrovial’s $465m convertible bond issuance in November provided a much-needed boost to EMEA’s CB market, with the deal multiple times covered across roughly 80 investor lines. EMEA CB issuance stands at $11bn YtD in 2025, nearly double last year’s $5.7bn, driven by large deals from Vonovia (€1.3bn) and Legrand (€0.8bn).
With over €4bn of EMEA CBs maturing in 2026, bankers expect a visible refinancing pipeline to build momentum into next year.
IPOs
- City welcomes stamp duty holiday to lure London IPOs
- Revolut Chair says UK stamp relief is attractive for tech IPOs
