The UK M&A value surge that has reshaped the London market gathered pace in the first half of 2026, with takeovers worth some £124bn struck in the first six months of the year, more than double the £60bn recorded in the same period of 2025, according to a report from PwC. Foreign buyers have been the driving force, capitalising on valuations that have persistently lagged those of peers listed in New York and other major markets.
The 107 per cent year-on-year rise in deal value came despite the total number of transactions falling 13 per cent to 1,301, a combination the PwC report described in blunt terms: ‘More capital chasing fewer deals has become the defining feature of UK M&A.’
Unilever food sale towers above the pack
The single deal that did most to inflate the headline figure was Unilever’s £33.4bn sale of its food division to McCormick, which alone helped lift the value of consumer markets deals by 486 per cent. The merger was announced in April but quickly ran into turbulence, with Unilever shareholders pushing back over concerns the process was being ‘rushed’. The top ten transactions in total accounted for nearly two-thirds of the overall deal value, with takeovers of Schroders and Beazley also prominent.
American investment firm Nuveen’s £10bn swoop for Schroders caught the City off guard. The asset manager’s chief had previously rebuffed speculation about a sale, making the deal one of the more unexpected of the period. Swiss insurer Zurich’s £8bn bid for Beazley and US food manufacturer Ingredion’s £2.7bn play for Tate & Lyle are both expected to result in delistings from the London Stock Exchange, further thinning the ranks of large-cap names available to UK investors.
UK M&A value surge raises fears of City exodus
The pace has not slowed into the second half of the year. As of 1 September, announced acquisitions of UK-listed public companies had topped $132.5bn, according to figures from the London Stock Exchange Group. That figure was nearly triple the $48.2bn recorded over the same stretch in the prior year, underlining how sharply appetite for British assets has intensified.
Last Wednesday brought a fresh illustration of the trend, when a trio of London-listed firms all accepted bids from overseas buyers on a single day. Takeovers of FTSE 250 companies Bodycote and Gamma Communications, together with energy company Capricorn, topped £3bn in combined value, prompting calls from officials for a more assertive response to the sustained pressure on the City’s listed universe.
Charles Hall, head of research at Peel Hunt, set out the stakes plainly after the news broke. ‘There is increasing competition for companies, capital and talent and we need to play to win,’ he told City AM. ‘Complacency is not a viable option.’
The pattern across the first half is clear enough. Fewer but larger deals, concentrated among a small number of very large transactions, are reshaping the top end of the London market at a pace that has few recent precedents. With the LSEG’s running total already approaching the £124bn PwC recorded for the whole of the first half, the full-year figure will be closely watched when PwC updates its count.
