UK M&A value on track to reach record high in 2026

The value of UK M&A activity is on track to hit a record high this year, in a dealmaking environment in which financing trends are enabling corporate buyers to outperform private equity investors.

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According to recent PitchBook data, UK M&A value reached £178.9 billion (approximately $240 billion) in the year to July 7, which puts the market on track for an annualised total value of roughly £347 billion, compared to £257.1 billion in the full year 2025.

Should this be achieved, 2026 would outstrip the previous record high of £309.2 billion seen in 2015 (PitchBook data).

This comes in spite of total deal volume in the year-to-date standing at just 2,137 transactions so far, well under half of the 4,759 deals recorded during 2025, reflecting a more selective dealmaking environment in which larger deals are becoming more prominent.

During 2026 so far, the top 10 UK deals accounted for approximately 52 per cent of overall M&A value, with the vast majority of these transactions being carried out by strategic buyers.

Of the 10 biggest deals in the UK in the first half of 2026, eight were struck by strategic buyers. This was led by McCormick’s $44 billion merger with Unilever’s food business, with other major deals including Engie’s acquisition of UK Power Networks for an equity value of £10.5 billion and investment manager Nuveen’s £9.9 billion takeover of asset management firm Schroders.

In contrast, just 33.1 per cent of UK deal value during the first half of the year came from sponsor acquisitions, representing the second-lowest share since 2014. According to PitchBook, private equity investors typically account for between 40 - 55 per cent of the market. In 2025, private equity buyouts comprised more than half (53 per cent) of overall deal value, the third highest figure since 2014.

The gulf between strategic and private equity buyers widens even further at the top end of the market. Of the year’s top 10 deals so far, private equity accounted for just 15.1 per cent of the total value, with major PE deals including EQT’s £10.9 billion acquisition of previously-listed firm Intertek and TDR Capital’s £3.09 billion purchase of software-escrow provider Escode.

PitchBook attributes the gap between strategic and private equity buyers to financing, saying that corporate buyers have sidelined PE investors in the largest deals so far this year “with financing options that sponsors couldn’t easily replicate.”

The report points to McCormick’s merger with Unilever Foods as indicative of this trend, with roughly two-thirds of the deal “funded in stock, a currency that PE funds cannot offer.”

According to PitchBook, the impact of debt costs on buyout economics means that private equity buyers are “increasingly boxed out of the largest deal sizes”. Corporate buyers, however, are able to rely on balance-sheet cash and equity, providing greater headroom to pursue scale that would previously have drawn competition from sponsors.

The report adds that, while tools such as earn-outs, structured equity and rollovers are increasingly being used by dealmakers to bridge valuation gaps, these levers do not provide sponsors with a tradeable stock that can be directly offered to vendor shareholders.

See also: UK M&A is being shaped by a "volume down, value up" dynamic so far in 2026

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