Overview
While the majority of the UK saw a dip in deal activity in H1 2024, the South East is outperforming with a 24% increase in volume compared to this time last year. These are early signs of recovery in the South East after a slump in overall deal activity across the UK last year, largely due to macroeconomic factors.
Technology emerges as the top driver of M&A: the South East may even be transforming into an alternative technology hub to London, with 85% of all high-growth deal activity in the region including a technology-related business.
Most M&A acquisitions of high growth companies were completed by corporate acquirers, with trade sales accounting for 97.52% of M&A transactions in the South East. The remaining 2.48% of deals were completed by professional investors (typically private equity funds) for H1 2024, compared to 3.96% in the previous year. While private equity activity might seem low, these deals don’t represent the entire M&A market in the South East. Private equity activity is much higher when looking at wider data and trends.
Overseas investment has fallen back down to pre-Covid levels following a rise during the pandemic. The US remains the highest overseas acquirer of UK businesses by deal volume.