The data shows that volume of M&A deals between domestic companies in the United Kingdom since the June 23 vote to leave the European Union has totaled only $1 million. This marks a 30-year low for domestic deal-making, and a 62 per cent reduction in activity compared to the same period last year. Similarly, not even the weaker British pound has managed to lure foreign buyers to market, with foreign acquisitions of UK companies also down 69 per cent year-on-year.
Outbound M&A is up
Flowing the other way, Thompson Reuters also found cross-border M&A deals involving a UK-based buyer to be at their highest level since 2007. British companies have spent $88.5 billion on acquiring foreign firms since the Brexit referendum, a 59 per cent increase on the total spend for the same period last year. However, that figure is distorted by the mammoth $57.8 billion purchase of Reynolds American by British American Tobacco.
Sources: Reuters; Australasian Lawyer
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