Foreign predators gobbled up UK firms worth £30.4 billion in the first half of this year – and could step up their pace in the coming months.
It was the biggest half-year for overseas takeovers of British companies since 2021, according to an analysis of Office for National Statistics figures by The Mail on Sunday.
Britain’s cheap stock market is making UK firms an attractive target for foreign investors who are shifting their focus away from the US due to fears over Donald Trump’s erratic economic policies.
The total dwarfed the £11.9 billion of ‘outward’ deals – foreign businesses being bought by British firms – over the same period.
The surge in foreign takeovers was particularly notable in the first three months of the year, when the total reached £21.1 billion – the highest since the third quarter of 2022. The pace slowed to £9.3 billion in the second quarter. But that still meant that the total value over the first six months of 2025 was higher than the £26.3 billion worth of takeovers for the whole of 2024.
The last half-year to exceed this level was at the start of 2021, when corporate dealmaking experienced a revival in the wake of the pandemic. Nearly £48 billion worth of UK companies were bought during that period.
Takeover: Foreign predators gobbled up UK firms worth £30.4 billion in the first half of this year
Patrick Sarch, head of UK public mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at law firm White & Case, said 2025 was ‘shaping up to be one of the busiest years for UK takeovers in many years’.
That is despite a sluggish performance in the wider economy – with unemployment rising, growth slowing and inflation climbing. Sarch added: ‘This public market M&A activity is driven less by confidence in the UK economy, which remains fragile, than by the enduring attractions of the UK market, including relative valuations.
‘Based on our pipeline and what we are seeing in the market, takeover activity in the UK will remain robust for the remainder of 2025.’
He said it ‘may well continue to increase, with a combination of private equity and strategic corporate bidders, particularly from the US, looking to make offers for UK targets supported by improved borrowing market conditions and the relative stability of the UK market’.
‘We expect the UK to remain one of Europe’s most compelling destinations for international acquirers,’ Sarch added.
The pace of foreign takeovers will have to accelerate even further if it is to beat the £76.7 billion annual total for 2021. The overall record was set in 2016 when overseas buyers swooped on firms worth £190 billion. Sarch said: ‘While it is good to see UK-listed companies in demand, and their value being recognised, we don’t think that 2025 will beat records for foreign takeovers of UK companies, either on value or number of deals. But 2026 could be that year if sterling is lower and equity market strength remains robust.’
The takeover frenzy so far this year has seen several major UK brands fall into the hands of overseas predators. Among them is auto engineer Dowlais, which in January agreed a £1.2 billion takeover deal with American Axle & Manufacturing.
Takeaway delivery app Deliveroo was snapped up four months later by its US rival Doordash in a £2.9 billion deal.
Tech companies have also found themselves in the crosshairs. In June, microchip maker Alphawave fell to a £1.8 billion swoop by US giant Qualcomm.
It was followed by a £4.2 billion buyout of scientific instrument maker Spectris by New York private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
The wave of bids comes as fears grow that the London stock market is losing its status as an attractive destination for companies to list.
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