Mergers and acquisitions involving UK companies: January to March 2025

• In Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025, the provisional values of both inward and outward mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were at their highest since late 2022, driven by some large deals rather than a greater number of deals.

• The provisional combined number of domestic and cross-border M&A involving a change in majority share ownership was 395 during Quarter 1 2025; this was 102 fewer than during Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2024 (497).

• There were an estimated 148 monthly domestic and cross-border acquisitions involving a change in majority share ownership during January 2025, falling noticeably to 103 in February before increasing to 144 during March.

• Inward M&A (foreign companies acquiring UK companies) in Quarter 1 2025 was worth £19.2 billion, an increase of £15.2 billion compared with Quarter 4 2024 (£4.0 billion).

• The value of outward M&A (UK companies acquiring foreign companies) in Quarter 1 2025 was £9.4 billion, which was £7.6 billion higher than in Quarter 4 2024 (£1.8 billion).

• Domestic M&A (UK companies acquiring other UK companies) during Quarter 1 2025 was £2.9 billion, which was £3.5 billion less than the value in Quarter 4 2024 (£6.4 billion).

The provisional total combined number of monthly domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) fell notably between January (148) and February (103), before rising to 144 transactions in March 2025.

Domestic monthly M&A recorded 60 transactions in January 2025, decreasing to 37 during February, before increasing to 61 in March.

Outward monthly M&A saw a fall between January (29) and February (17), before rising to 25 acquisitions during March 2025.

Inward monthly M&A saw 60 acquisitions in January 2025 and 49 during February, increasing to 58 in March.

The Bank of England summary of business conditions for Quarter 1 2025  reported that:

"Increasing financial pressures in firms, partly associated with the upcoming labour market policy changes and a weak demand outlook, are deterring investment. Some businesses are waiting to see how current conditions evolve before committing to spend and some are already cutting back on plans. For others, availability of credit in their sectors and costs continue to constrain investment, especially those who are cash-poor".

This same report stated:

"Mergers and acquisitions activity shows some signs of improvement, but growth is constrained by caution among buyers and sellers. Restructuring and insolvency activity remains slightly higher on a year ago".

The provisional value of inward mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of foreign companies acquiring UK companies during Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025 was £19.2 billion. This was a notable increase of £15.2 billion, compared with Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2024 (£4.0 billion), and £12.8 billion more than in Quarter 1 2024 (£6.4 billion). The value of inward M&A for Quarter 1 2025 (£19.2 billion) is the highest since Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2022 (£22.4 billion).

Notable inward M&A transactions, which completed in Quarter 1 2025 were:

• DS Smith PLC of the UK acquired by International Paper Company of the United States

• Britvic PLC of the UK acquired by Carlsberg A/S of Denmark

• AGS Airports Holding Ltd of the UK acquired by Public Sector Pension Investments Board of Canada

Number of quarterly inward mergers and acquisitions transactions involving UK companies

There were an estimated 167 completed inward M&A transactions involving a change in majority share ownership in Quarter 1 2025, 22 fewer transactions than in the previous quarter (189) and 12 fewer than Quarter 1 2024 (179).

The provisional estimated value of outward mergers and acquisitions (M&A), UK companies acquiring foreign companies, was £9.4 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025, £7.6 billion higher than in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2024 (£1.8 billion) and £4.7 billion more than in Quarter 1 2024 (£4.7 billion). The value of outward M&A during Quarter 1 2025 (£9.4 billion) is the highest value since Quarter 4 2022 (£10.1 billion).

One large valued outward acquisition, which completed in Quarter 1 2025 was:

• Rio Tinto PLC  of the UK acquired Arcadium Lithium PLC of Jersey

Number of quarterly outward mergers and acquisitions transactions involving UK companies

There were an estimated 71 outward acquisitions involving a change in majority share ownership in Quarter 1 2025. This was six fewer than in the previous quarter (77) and seven less than in Quarter 1 2024 (78).

The provisional estimated value of domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&A), UK companies acquiring other UK companies in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025 was £2.9 billion. This was £3.5 billion less than the value reported for Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2024 (£6.4 billion) and £0.3 billion less than in Quarter 1 2024 (£3.2 billion).

A notable domestic acquisition, which completed in Quarter 1 2025 was:

• The Coventry Building Society of the UK acquired The Co-Operative Bank Holdings Limited, also of the UK

Number of quarterly domestic mergers and acquisitions transactions involving UK companies

There were an estimated 157 domestic M&A during Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025. This was 74 fewer than the previous quarter (231) and 106 fewer than Quarter 1 2024 (263).

Domestic mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of UK resident companies acquiring other UK resident companies.

Inward mergers and acquisitions

Mergers, acquisitions and disposals of UK resident companies by foreign companies.

Outward mergers and acquisitions

Mergers, acquisitions and disposals of foreign companies abroad by UK resident companies.

Mergers and acquisitions transactions

M&As occur when one company takes control of another company. The internationally agreed definition of an M&A deal is when one company gains more than 50% of the ordinary shares (or voting rights) of the acquired company.

Disinvestments (disposal transactions)

Disinvestment, or disposal transactions, refers to a disposal of the ordinary share ownership of a subsidiary company.

Since Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2018, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) statistics fully incorporate the Bureau van Dijk (BVD) M&A, which has been renamed Moody's Orbis M&A, data source and methods. The introduction of this new data source increased the coverage of smaller M&A transactions and, therefore, resulted in a discontinuity in the number of transactions reported. Therefore, users are advised to take care when comparing recent estimates with the number of transactions reported for quarters before 2018.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022 and in response, the UK government has imposed a range of economic sanctions on Russia from late February and early March 2022, as described in the Russia sanctions: guidance on GOV.UK. We will continue to monitor potential impact of the conflict and resulting sanctions in future quarterly releases.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Mergers and acquisitions Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).

About Office for National Statistics datasets

The datasets for mergers and acquisitions involving UK companies have recently been reviewed to ensure that they meet the accessibility standards outlined in the Government Statistical Service (GSS) guidance on releasing statistics in spreadsheets. This is to ensure that all GSS outputs meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, a legal requirement set out in The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

We welcome any feedback on these changes. Please share your feedback by emailing MA@ons.gov.uk.

Accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in June 2013. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".

Strengths and limitations

We produce statistics on the number and value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions. This information is presented in the following way:

• transactions are only recorded in our statistics once the deal has been legally completed; each transaction has a value of at least £1 million

• the transactions results in a change of ultimate control of the target company

• all values are in current prices, and therefore have not been adjusted for the effects of inflation

These are among the main reasons our M&A statistics can differ from those reported in other sources. There can be a substantial time gap between the point at which a deal is announced and when it is legally completed. In addition, in some cases, announced M&A deals do not take place.

Our statistics on disposals (or de-mergers) are also included in datasets alongside this bulletin. These are typically fewer in number per quarter, which can lead to greater suppression of statistics to mitigate disclosure. The focus of this bulletin is on acquisitions, although some of the more complex deals can include the disposal of some part of the newly created corporate structure.

It is sometimes necessary to suppress figures for certain items to avoid disclosing information about an individual business. Further information on why statistics are suppressed is available in our Disclosure Control Policy.

It is not uncommon for the value of M&A transactions to vary considerably from one quarter to the next. This mainly reflects the nature of M&A activity in that these capture one-off deals. Therefore, if a particularly high-value M&A deal completes in a given quarter, it can make that quarter seem out of line with those that precede and follow it.

The volatility of M&A transactions also makes it difficult to link M&A statistics with other economic indicators – such as gross domestic product – or global events because of the time it can take between announcing and completing a M&A deal. Therefore, it can be more informative to look at longer-term trends within M&A statistics rather than focusing on quarterly movements.

Details of any notable M&A deals that completed in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025 can be found in Sections 3, 4 and 5 of this statistical bulletin. Lists of notable completed M&As valued above £100 million and which took place in earlier quarters, can also be found in previously published Mergers and acquisitions quarterly bulletins.