Daniel Black
Hello,
The week starts with a mega-tailwind. Intertek has acquired Aerial PV Inspection: a move the company says responds to the solar market’s rapid growth, citing a forecast of 9.2% CAGR through 2029.
Other standout transactions this week:
- Wrisk has acquired Atto, a financial intelligence platform, to strengthen its embedded insurance and finance capabilities.
- ECI Partners has acquired Paragin Group (exam and assessment software) from Main Capital Partners, backing its next phase of growth.
- Thrive Renewable Energy’s JV, Burgar Hill Energy, is progressing a UK wind farm repowering, acquiring two 2.5 MW turbines as part of a project of up to c. 30 MW.
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Deal Tracker
Our weekly roundup of all the confirmed M&A deals in the UK.
The rumour mill
- Elliott pushes for divestments, £5bn Buyback at LSE Group
- CVC Is working with Goldman Sachs on €1bn Marina Business sale
- CFC owners said to tap banks for sale, IPO of £5bn insurer
- Chesnara to buy Lloyds’ Scottish Widows Europe for €110m
- Nexfibre buys £2bn Alt-Net as UK consolidation starts
- London private equity firm Hollyport hires Evercore to explore Sale
- Ardian gets EU nod to acquire Irish utility Energia
- SME-focused Zempler Bank set to be acquired by The Access Bank UK
- Virgin Media O2 owners to buy British fibre firm Substantial for $2.7bn
- Nuveen to buy UK asset manager Schroders in $13.5bn deal
- Schroders boss told Treasury £9.9bn sale was ‘good deal’ for UK
- BDO UK and Ireland partners approve £1.1bn merger
- Elliott pushes LSE Group for £5bn buyback
- Zurich secures more time to finalise Beazley takeover
- Liberty Global agrees to buy out Vodafone in Dutch joint venture for €1bn
- Rosebank Industries vows to keep London listing as it explores $3bn in US deals
- Software group Pinewood plummets after AI sell-off scuppers £575mn deal
- UK’s Brewdog picks AlixPartners to run sale process
- Macquarie Asset Management to buy IHS Holding’s South American tower assets
- M&G and CVC agree $1.1bn private equity transaction
- NatWest looks to Technology to Cut Costs After Earnings Beat
- Maven Securities mulls UAE office as trading talent flocks to Middle East
Industry news
- UK inflation falls sharply to 3% in January
- BOE Is Considering Outside Help for Private Markets Stress Data
- Sterling steady, inflation figures reinforce near-term BoE cut bets
- UK’s FTSE 100 hits record as cooling inflation fuels rate‑cut bets; miners shine
Salaries and bonuses
- Lloyds Banking Group hikes bonuses for top investment bank staff by 24%
- NatWest ups bonuses for top staff by 13% as trading unit jumps
Market trends
Prospectus reform: a procedural tailwind for listed acquirers
Quietly, the structural change that might have the biggest impact on UK M&A in 2026 is procedural.
Under the new prospectus regime, listed companies can issue shares up to 66.6% of their existing capital without shareholder approval and up to 75% without a full prospectus.
For dealmakers, this removes a long-standing disadvantage for London-listed acquirers, who previously faced circular requirements and approval timelines that continental and US rivals did not.
The direction of travel matters:
- Mega deals above £1bn rose to 34 in 2025, up from 31 in 2024, even as overall deal volume fell 13%;
- PE bidders featured in 44% of public M&A versus 31% the prior year, and US buyers alone accounted for aggregate deal value exceeding the entirety of domestic UK M&A.
According to UK Finance data, geoeconomic confrontation now sits at the top of the near-term risk rankings, rated close to 5 out of 7 in severity and having jumped from ninth place the prior year.
- The WEF frames the risk as broader than tariffs: it encompasses institutional erosion, the use of sanctions to protect strategic capabilities, and fewer constraints on unilateral action by major powers.
The ten-year picture shifts materially on AI. Near-term severity sits below 3.5, placing it 30th in the immediate rankings.
Over a decade, that figure climbs above 5, the sharpest horizon gap of any risk category. The problems that arise are rooted in gaps in governance, unequal benefit distribution, and labour displacement.
UK & Ireland mid-market: fewer transactions, higher aggregate value
UK and Ireland mid-market M&A closed 2025 with 739 transactions, down 12% on the prior year, yet aggregate deal value climbed 7% to $68bn.
The post-COVID boom of $72bn in 2022 came on the back of a crowded market; last year’s figure arrived through discipline, with bidders cutting noise and targeting fit.
- TMT held the top position at 213 deals
- But TMTs 22% forward pipeline share is now being stalked by Business Services at 21%, up from 84 to 99 transactions across the year.
The assets drawing the sharpest competition sit at the intersection of both: SaaS platforms, cybersecurity, AI infrastructure. In that context, some deals stood out:
- NVIDIA paid $500m for autonomous vehicle software developer Wayve Technologies.
- Wolters Kluwer paid the same for Irish legal-tech firm Brightflag.
