Latest UK M&A Statistics for Q4 2023
The UK Office for National Statistics have just released their latest statistics for Q4 2023. Below is the update on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) involving UK companies for Q4 2023, during the period October to December 2023.
Please note that these include only transactions that result in a change of ultimate control of the target company and have a value of £1M or more.
Headline Statistics for UK M&A Q4 2023
In Q4-23 total domestic and cross-border M&A transactions was 367, 33 fewer than previous quarter (400).
During December 2023, there were a combined total of 83 monthly domestic and cross-border M&As, 47 fewer transactions than previous month (130).
Value of inward M&A in Q4-23 was £8.6Bn, an increase of £3.3Bn from previous quarter (£5.3 billion).
In Q4-23, total value of outward M&A was £3.2Bn, £1.1Bn higher than the previous quarter (£2.1 billion).
Domestic M&A in Q4-23 was valued at £2.7Bn, £0.2Bn more than Q3-23 (£2.5Bn).
*N.B. These numbers are provisional and may be subject to upward revisions until Q4 2024.
Monthly UK M&A Q4 2023
M&A activity dropped substantially at the start of COVID-19 in 2020, then strengthened in 2021, remaining relatively consistent during 2022. Monthly provisional estimates during the second half of 2023 indicate a notable decline in the number of M&A deals (*estimates subject to revision).
Provisional total number monthly M&A saw an increase in October (154) before falling during November (130) and continued to decline further during December 2023 (83).
Total number of monthly domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions involving UK companies from October 2019 to December 2023 ranged from 58 to 290.
Monthly inward M&A was 61 in October, fell to 40 in November and 41 in December 2023.
Monthly outward M&A was relatively stable between October (24) and November (23), before falling sharply to 12 in December 2023.
The monthly numbers of domestic monthly M&A recorded 69 transactions in October and 67 during November, before falling to 30 in December 2023.
The Bank of England’s summary of business conditions for Q4-23 reported that:
Contacts are now planning to spend less on investment over the coming year. More contacts are starting to feel margin or cash-flow pressure and are cutting their investment plans in the face of elevated financing costs and tighter financial conditions… Credit supply is good for most large firms but constrained for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by lenders’ concerns around affordability. Credit demand is weak across all firm sizes.
The Bank of England
Inward UK M&A Q4 2023
Value Inward UK M&A Q4 2023
Provisional estimated value of inward M&A in Q4-23 rose to £8.6Bn, an increase of £3.3Bn compared with previous quarter (£5.3Bn) and £2.8Bn more than Q4-22 (£5.8Bn).
Notable inward acquisitions which completed in Q4-23 were:
- United Health Group Incorporated of the USA which acquired EMIS Group Ltd of the UK
- Danaher Corporation of the USA which acquired Abcam Plc of the UK
The value of inward M&A rose to £8.6Bn in Q4-23
The value of inward M&A between Q4-19 & Q4-23 ranged from £2.8Bn to £32.9Bn
Number Inward UK M&A Q4 2023
In Q4-23 there were an estimated 142 completed inward M&A transactions, a small decrease of 6 on the previous quarter (148) and 43 fewer than Q4-22 (185).
Number of inward M&A in Q4-23 fell to 142.
Total number of inward M&A acquisitions between Q4-19 & Q4-23 ranged from 81 to 221.
Outward UK M&A Q4 2023
Value Outward UK M&A Q4 2023
In Q4-23 provisional estimated value of outward M&A was £3.2Bn, £1.1Bn higher than in the previous quarter (£2.1Bn) & £6.9Bn lower than Q4-22 (£10.1Bn).
Value of outward M&A increased slightly between Q3-23 & Q4-23.
Value of outward M&A between Q4-19 & Q4-23 ranged from £1.7Bn to £32.1Bn.
Number Outward UK M&A Q4 2023
There was an estimated 59 outward M&A transactions in Q4-23, 23 fewer than in the previous quarter (82) and 4 fewer than Q4-22 (63).
Number of outward M&A notably decreased between Q3-23 & Q4-23.
Total number of outward M&A between Q4-19 & Q4-23 ranged from 30 to 94 transactions.
Domestic UK M&A Q4 2023
Value Domestic UK M&A Q4 2023
Provisional estimated value of domestic M&A in Q4-23 was £2.7Bn, a £0.2Bn increase compared with Q3-23 (£2.5Bn), although £1.2Bn less than Q4-22 (£3.9Bn).
Value of quarterly domestic M&A remained relatively stable between Q3-23 & Q4-23.
Value of domestic M&A between Q4-19 & Q4-23 ranged from £0.9Bn to £17.9Bn
Number Domestic UK M&A Q4 2023
There were an estimated 166 domestic M&A deals during Q4-23, 4 fewer than in previous quarter (170) & 93 fewer than in Q4-22 (259).
Number of quarterly domestic M&A between Q3-23 and Q4-23 remained relatively stable.
Total number of domestic M&A between Q4-19 and Q4-23 ranged from 164 to 335.
The above data for M&A Statistics for Q4-23 was extracted from the Office of National Statistics; full details here. Do you want to know how the latest UK M&A statistics for Q4 2023 are relevant to your company sale? Then contact us now for a confidential appraisal of potential market appetite in your industry.
Tags: M&A Statistics, M&A Stats, Office for National Statistics, Q4 2023, UK
