Mergers and Acquisitions involving UK companies, October to December 2018

5th March 2019

In Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2018, the total value of inward mergers and acquisitions (M&A) was £33.3 billion, the highest value since Quarter 4 2016 (£85.2 billion).

The total value of inward M&A for the whole of 2018 (Jan to Dec) was £71.1 billion and is broadly explained by one very large successful acquisition. This was a sizeable increase on the value reported in 2017 (£35.2 billion), yet considerably lower than the value recorded in 2016 (£190.0 billion).

The value of outward M&A (UK companies acquiring foreign companies abroad) was £9.9 billion in Quarter 4 2018, a sizeable increase on the value recorded in the previous quarter (£4.3 billion).

In 2018, outward M&A was worth £22.7 billion, a notable decline when compared with 2017 (£77.5 billion).

Domestic M&A (UK companies acquiring other UK companies) was valued at £5.0 billion in Quarter 4 2018 and was similar to the value (£5.2 billion) reported in the same quarter of the previous year.

The total value for domestic M&A during 2018 was £26.5 billion, the highest value recorded since 2008 (£36.5 billion).

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