As the terms of Britain’s prospective withdrawal from the European Union remain elusive, Baker McKenzie is expecting the value of corporate M&A deal in the UK to drop by as much as 60 per cent in the year ahead. The firm is forecasting around $125bn worth of M&A activity in the UK during 2017, a mere fraction of the $340bn worth of deals recorded in 2016. The firm has warned that both the volume and the size of M&A transactions are likely to be lackluster until businesses are given more clarity about the likely economic and regulatory status of Britain once it withdraws from the EU. Meanwhile, non-UK M&A activity in Europe is expected to climb by 44 per cent over the next 12 months, bolstered by the European Central Bank’s low interest rates and the further weakening of the euro/dollar exchange rate. 

Sources: The Independent; Scottish Legal News