Daniel Black
Talk of major English football clubs changing hands was rife this week, even though the most eye-catching situations remain unconfirmed.
Leicester City’s Thai owners have put the club up for sale following its relegation to League One, while Fenway Sports Group is discussing the sale of a minority stake in Liverpool FC with a consortium led by the billionaire Amit Bhatia.
Away from sport, July’s dealflow seem to float between deal count and deal value. Our curation suggests that the UK market is domestic by volume, but foreign-led deals account for roughly four-fifths of disclosed headline value, despite explicitly inbound transactions representing only about one-third of entries.
And in other news this week:
- Prologis made an improved £14bn cash-and-share proposal for SEGRO, whose board is minded to recommend the terms subject to due diligence and final agreement.
- Revolut confirmed a $115bn valuation through its latest secondary share sale, reinforcing its position among Europe’s most highly-valued private fintech companies.
- OCS agreed a recommended £3.1bn acquisition of Mitie, creating a substantially larger facilities-management group in the UK.
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Week Summary | From July 16 to 23, 2026
The UK recorded 14 announced deals between 16 and 23 July, with real estate, healthcare and technology the most active sectors, accounting for three, two and two transactions respectively.
The week split neatly between domestic consolidation and foreign capital writing the biggest cheques. OCS’s £3.1bn move for Mitie gave UK-to-UK M&A its anchor, but overseas buyers set the valuation ceiling: Prologis circled SEGRO with a £14bn proposal, Karman agreed a $94m acquisition of Walker Precision, and Revolut’s secondary sale reset fintech expectations at a $115bn valuation.
The UK’s deal count is domestic. Its deal value is not.
This week’s £14bn proposal from US logistics giant Prologis for SEGRO has turned a familiar debate into a measurable trend in UK M&A activity in July 2026: foreign buyers are no longer doing most of the deals, but they are capturing most of the value.
Teaser UK’s preliminary tracker for 1-23 July records a broad domestic market, from regional bolt-ons to OCS’s £3.1bn recommended acquisition of Mitie. Yet, on a disclosed headline-value basis, roughly four-fifths of UK-target deal value sits in foreign-led situations. Explicitly inbound transactions account for only about one-third of tracker entries.
The month’s largest situations explain it. Alongside Prologis–SEGRO, Apollo has proposed £5.7bn terms for easyJet; ABB agreed a £4.1bn acquisition of Rotork; Xavier Niel-backed Vega agreed to buy e&’s 16.2% Vodafone stake for about £4.4bn; and Lockheed Martin agreed a $3.45bn deal for Ultra Maritime.
Foreign capital is ranging across logistics, aviation, engineering, telecoms, defence, healthcare and technology, not simply chasing one discounted sector.
Domestic capital is hardly absent: NatWest completed its £2.7bn Evelyn Partners acquisition, while Sky agreed up to £1.6bn for ITV’s media and entertainment unit. But these deals do not change the shape of the leaderboard.
The pattern extends beyond this month. LSEG data reported by Reuters put foreign takeovers at 86% of UK-targeted M&A value in 2026, with US bidders responsible for more than half. EY’s July review of UK financial-services M&A showed the same concentration effect: inbound deal count fell slightly in H1, while disclosed value rose from £4.1bn to £27.2bn.
Discounted UK valuations matter, but they are only the entry point. Overseas strategic buyers also see established market positions, globally relevant IP and a predictable takeover framework. The valuation gap opens the door; asset quality closes the deal.
Foreign participation is high; that is a fact. But once this cycle closes and the industry’s consolidated data begins to emerge, it will be worth examining why domestic capital appears so active across the market, yet remains so often outgunned at the top end. The recurring question is who has the balance sheet, and the conviction, to set the price.
Rumour mill
- Leicester City’s Thai owners have put the football club up for sale following its relegation to England’s third tier
- Segro’s board said it would be minded to recommend Prologis’ improved £14 billion cash-and-share proposal, subject to satisfactory due diligence and agreement on the remaining terms. Prologis has until 12 August to make a firm offer
- As the EU prepares to review airline ownership rules designed to prevent foreign investors from exercising effective control, questions have emerged over Apollo’s £5.7 billion bid for easyJet. EU rules require airlines to be more than 50 per cent owned and effectively controlled by EU member states or their nationals to retain an operating licence
- Fenway Sports Group is in talks with a consortium led by investor Amit Bhatia over the sale of a minority stake in Liverpool FC, with Jeff Bezos approached about joining the group
- Osborne & Little, the fabrics and wallpaper business co-founded by former chancellor George Osborne’s father, is exploring a sale after appointing RSM to oversee the process
- Advent International and Brookfield have emerged as the final bidders for FNZ Bank, the German banking arm of London-based wealthtech group FNZ, in a deal expected to value the business at €425 million to €450 million
- Carlyle is in talks to transfer control of sustainability consultancy Anthesis Group to Bridgepoint. Carlyle acquired a majority stake in the business in 2023 in a deal valuing it at about £400 million
- Bupa is open to increasing its stake in Niva Bupa Health Insurance, as the Indian subsidiary continues to outperform the group’s other international operations
- Anglo American has selected the Global Diamond Consortium as the preferred bidder for its De Beers stake, while Botswana evaluates whether to join the consortium or exercise its pre-emption rights independently
- Man Group appears to be on an event-driven investing spree on takeover targets. The asset manager has increased its economic exposure to JTC Plc to 2.59%, equivalent to 4.53 million shares and approximately £60.2 million
- The pattern repeats at Gamma Communications. Man Group disclosed a 1.98% interest in the company, worth approximately £17.1 million, comprising a 0.24% direct shareholding and a further 1.73% exposure through cash-settled swaps. Gamma is currently a potential takeover target for Epiris, but no firm offer or proposed acquisition price has yet been announced.
- Man Group’s moves also extends to the bidder side. The asset manager increased its interest in AMG Critical Materials to 3%, worth approximately €30.7 million, after directly purchasing a further 17,560 shares at €28.536 each.
- Lawfront is suing former Slater Heelis partners over the 2024 £17 million acquisition, alleging that profits from the firm’s Court of Protection practice were materially overstated.
- Jingye Steel has initiated treaty consultations and threatened international arbitration after the UK government formally nationalised British Steel
Job moves
- Technology Minerals appoints former British Army officer Michel “Mick” Cataldo as executive director and head of resilience and defence
- Vivienne Moore steps in as CEO of Moore Global
- Public Digital appoints Chandresh Pankhania as chief financial officer
- Interpath appoints Suwin Lee as global head of tax
- EY-Parthenon promotes Caroline Pover to equity partner in UK and Ireland financial restructuring
- Wilson appointed to lead Green Freeport
- Bitar appointed chief executive of the Energy Institute
IPOs
Fundraising
- Moa Technology raises £22.2 million in a Series C round co-led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Supernova Invest
- London-based private photo-sharing app Yope raises $12.3 million in a pre-Series A round led by Northzone, bringing its total funding to $20 million
- Industrial AI company Arrakis raises a $30 million Series A led by Blossom Capital, taking the total funding secured within six months to $38 million
- UK robotics company Humanoid raises £114 million in a Series A led by Prime Movers Lab at a £1 billion post-money valuation
- Energy analytics platform Modo Energy secures £12.7 million in growth funding from CIBC Innovation Banking, taking its total funding to £38.9 million
- AI engineering company Mach42 raises £7 million in a pre-seed round led by IP Group, with backing from BGF, Foresight Group and Parkwalk Advisors
- Cybersecurity start-up Ossprey raises £2 million in a pre-seed round led by Episode 1 Ventures, with participation from Osney Capital, Octopus Ventures and angel investors
- Ready-to-drink cocktail company MOTH raises £11 million in a growth round led by Puma Growth Partners, with backing from Beringea, Guinness Ventures and Rianta Capital
- Leeds-based cybersecurity company Xentra raises £2.7 million in a seed round backed by Maven VCTs and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II
- Mercia Asset Management is seeking up to £500 million for its UK Real Estate Development Debt Fund, managed by Frontier Development Capital
- Cambridge-based CuspAI raises $450 million in a Series B round led by Kleiner Perkins and New Enterprise Associates at a $2.6 billion valuation
- British aerospace company Greenjets raises a $40 million Series A led by Blossom Capital, with backing from the NATO Innovation Fund and the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund
- Edtech company Gaia Learning raises £400,000 from GC Angels, Nesta and a syndicate of angel investors to scale its support for neurodivergent children
- Applied Computing raises a $20 million Series A led by KBR, with participation from Databricks Ventures
- Tyred raises £2.5 million from Raw Ventures, Ada Ventures and angel investors to build its AI-powered cycling ownership platform
- Meticulous raises $15 million in a Series A led by Chemistry, with participation from Menlo Ventures and angel investors
