Latest UK M&A Stats for Q4-25
The UK Office for National Statistics have just released their latest statistics for Q4-25. Below is the update on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) involving UK companies for Q4 2025, during the period October to December 2025.
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. Also numbers are provisional and may be subject to revisions in either direction, but are more likely to be upwards than downwards.
Headline Statistics for UK M&A Q4-25
Total number of completed M&A saw a notable increase in Q4-25, the highest since Q2 2021, but whilst numbers were high, values decreased.
Value of inward M&A in Q4-25 was £27.4Bn, £19.8Bn more than for Q3-25 (£7.6Bn), mainly due to the number of deals over £1Bn.
Value of domestic M&A in Q4-25 was £1.8Bn, £5.3Bn lower than for Q3-25 (£7.1Bn).
Value of outward M&A was £1.7Bn in Q4-25, £1.7Bn lower than for Q3-25 (£3.4Bn).
Total number of M&A was 444 during Q4-25, a fall of 53 from Q4-25 (497).
October saw 165 acquisitions falling to 153 in November and further 126 in December 2025.
Monthly UK M&A Q4-25
Total number monthly M&A was 165 in OCT-25 falling to 153 in NOV-25 and again in DEC-25 to 126.
Figure shows numbers UK M&A have ranged from 95 to 238 from OCT-22 to DEC-25.
Domestic monthly M&A Q4-25
Domestic monthly M&A was 42 transactions OCT-25, increasing to 62 in NOV-25 then decreasing to 48 in DEC-25.
Outward monthly M&A was 31 for OCT-25, 22 for both NOV-25 and for DEC-25.
Inward monthly M&A was 92 acquisitions OCT-25, falling to 69 in NOV-25 and 56 for DEC-25.
The Bank of England’s Agent’s summary of business conditions Q3-25 reported that:
“The cost of investment, whether finance or the actual capital investment itself, is mentioned much less now as a deterrent to investment intentions – uncertainty seems to be the dominant consideration”.
This same report stated that “Mergers and acquisitions activity remains subdued, with deals taking longer due to increased due diligence and regulatory uncertainty”.
Inward UK M&A Q4-25
Value Inward UK M&A Q4-25
Value inward M&A in Q4-25 was £27.4Bn, due to several high value transactions over 1Bn. This was £19.8Bn higher than previous quarter (7.6Bn) and £23.4Bn more than Q4-24 (£4.0Bn).
A notable inward M&A transactions completing in Q4-25 was:
Value of inward UK M&A increased to £27.4Bn in Q4-25 which was the highest since Q2-21.
Value of inward UK M&A between Q4-21 and Q4-25 ranged from £4.0Bn to £27.4Bn.
Number Inward UK M&A Q4-25
Inward UK M&A transactions in Q4-25 were 217, 43 more than previous quarter (174) & 28 more than Q4-24 (189).
Total number of inward M&A acquisitions between Q4-21 and Q4-25 ranged from 149 to 220.
Domestic UK M&A Q4-25
Value Domestic UK M&A Q4-25
Value of domestic M&A in Q4-25 was £1.8Bn, a decrease of £5.3Bn when compared with both Q3-25 (£7.1Bn) and Q4-24 (£6.4Bn).
At least one notable domestic M&A transaction that completed in Q4-25 was:
Value of domestic M&A was £1.8Bn in Q4-25, the lowest since Q2-20
Value of domestic M&A between Q4-21 and Q4-25 ranged from £1.8Bn to £7.1Bn
Number Domestic UK M&A Q4-25
Domestic M&A was 152 during Q4-25, 12 fewer than previous quarter (164) & 79 fewer than Q4-24 (231).
Total number of domestic M&A between Q4-21 and Q4-25 ranged from 152 to 303.
Outward UK M&A Q4-25
Value £Bn Outward UK M&A Q4-25
Value of outward M&A in Q4-25 was £1.7Bn, £1.7Bn lower than Q3-25 (£3.4Bn) and £0.1Bn lower than Q4-24 (£1.8Bn).
A large valued outward acquisition, which completed in Q4-25 was:
FIG: VALUE £Bn OUTWARD UK M&A Q4-25
Value of outward M&A in Q4-25 fell to £1.7Bn, the lowest since Q2-19
Value outward UK M&A between Q4-21 and Q4-25 ranged from £1.7Bn to £10.1Bn.
Number Outward UK M&A Q4-25
There were 75 outward acquisitions in Q4-25, 14 less than for previous quarter (89) and 2 less than Q4-24 (77).
FIG: NUMBER OUTWARD UK M&A Q4-25
Total number of outward UK M&A between Q4-21 and Q4-25 ranged from 63 to 94 transactions.
The above data for M&A Stats Q4-25 was extracted from the Office of National Statistics; full details here.
Do you want to know how the latest UK M&A statistics for Q4-25 are relevant to your company sale? Then contact us now for a confidential appraisal of potential market appetite for your industry.
Tags: 2025, M&A Statistics, M&A Stats, Office for National Statistics, Q4, Q4-25, UK
