Increased interest in UK businesses by foreign investors says latest Experian report

 

news release

 Increased interest in UK businesses by foreign investors, says latest Experian report

Total value of M&A deals up as investors buy large UK firms

Nottingham, 05 July 2012 - Experian®, the global information services company, today revealed that the total value of UK mergers, acquisitions, flotations, rights issues and placements was £141 billion during the first six months of 2012 - an increase of 29 per cent on the total disclosed value during the same period in 2011.  

This was led primarily by an increase in transactions worth £1 billion or more.  During the first half of 2012, 24 large deals were announced worth £92.3 billion in total involving some of the UK’s largest companies. 16 of these were proposed acquisitions of UK companies by overseas firms. 

During the same period last year, there were 18 such deals announced worth £51.3 billion. Eight of these involved the proposed acquisition of a UK company by a foreign investor. 

Meanwhile, the total volume of deals announced across the UK as a whole during the first half of 2012 fell by just over 10 per cent – from 2,339 transactions in the first half of 2011 to 2,084 so far this year.  

The only areas in the UK to see the number of transactions rise year-on-year were the South West (where deal volumes rose by 17 per cent), Northern Ireland (up 12 per cent) and Scotland (up three per cent).  

The UK mid-market (transactions worth between £10 million and £100 million) and small segments (transactions worth between £0.5milion and £10 million) saw declines in both volume and value in HY1 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.  The mid-market was down by around 20 per cent in volume and value, with small deals down by just over 12 per cent for both. 

Around 47 per cent of all European transactions included a UK element – either acquiring, merging with or being bought by a UK based company - up from 43 per cent in HY 2011.  In terms of value, deals involving UK companies contributed almost 35 per cent of the European total for HY 2012.  

Wendy Driver, Business Development Manager at Experian UK&I, said: “The number of multi-billion pound deals involving top-level corporate UK businesses that have taken place recently highlights an increased interest in the UK market and reflects the quality of UK businesses. The recent acquisition of Weetabix by Chinese giant Bright Food is just one notable example of this trend.  

“Focusing on the volume of deals across the UK, while it has lessened slightly, this has mirrored a worldwide trend.” 

Table 1: Comparison of Regional Deal Activities HY 2012

UK areas

Volume of deals announced

Value of deals announced (£m)

HY 2012

HY 2011

HY 2012

HY 2011

Greater London

672

908

88,154

47,175

South East

262

369

10,980

21,940

South West

322

276

52,682

23,254

East Anglia

97

127

1,549

2,445

Midlands

280

290

11,376

7,395

Yorkshire

155

179

695

1,941

North West

288

339

3,021

6,830

North East

56

70

464

1,641

Wales

65

89

1,997

1,857

Scotland

176

171

10,840

5,934

Northern Ireland

19

17

691

232

UK wide

2,084

2,339

140,962

109,235

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2: Rest of World summary HY 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rest of World

Volume of deals announced

Value of deals announced (£m)

HY 2012

HY 2011

HY 2012

HY 2011

Europe

4,393

5,444

405,029

368,912

USA

3,088

3,339

280,880

367,176

Asia

4,410

5,445

235,049

313,953

 

Table 3: Top five countries dealing with the UK in HY 2012

 

Country

Proportion of deals

Value (£m)

Volume

USA

13.24%

30,958

276

Germany

2.74%

3,418

57

France

2.54%

8,151

53

Canada

1.82%

12,052

38

Netherlands

1.78%

3,915

37

 

For more detailed reports, please visit: http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer-information/experian-corpfin-resources.html

 

ENDS

 

Contact:

Ms Serj Heera 

PR Manager

0115 992 2773/07837 652169

serjeet.heera@uk.experian.com

 

Notes to editors

The information was compiled and analysed by Experian Corpfin.

 

*Where consideration disclosed

Deal information is based on transactions announced between 1st January and 25th June, 2012 for 2012 figures, and between 1st January and 30th June 2011 for 2011 figures. Target, bidder or parent of either party must be located in the region that is analysed in order to be included. The deal value of transactions covered in this report is £500,000 or above. Deal activity analysis referring to deal values is based on disclosed actual figures only. SME analysis is based on companies with a turnover of up to £20million including undisclosed. Large company analysis is based on companies with a turnover of more than £20million.

 

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