Foreign bids drive UK mergers to record $192 billion in 2026

Foreign buyers are treating Britain like a bargain because UK-listed companies still look cheap, the takeover regime is familiar, and strategic assets have been left exposed to cross-border bidders. That perception has already driven UK mergers and acquisitions to $192 billion so far this year, more than triple the level at the same point in 2025, putting 2026 on track to break every prior record.

The biggest deals underline the shift. Intertek’s board said it was minded to recommend EQT’s 9.4 billion pound, or $12.7 billion, offer, a transaction that would be Britain’s largest private-equity takeover since Alliance Boots in 2007. Other headline bids have included approaches for Schroders and Unilever’s food unit, alongside Ingredion’s offer for Tate & Lyle, announced last Wednesday. Foreign takeovers of UK targets have accounted for 86% of all UK M&A by value this year, up from 74% at the same point in 2025, and those inbound deals have already totaled $165 billion.

The buying pattern suggests more than just opportunism. Clifford Chance partner Dominic Ross said dealmakers were pursuing “opportunistic, strategic consolidation” and described Britain as a “tried and tested market” for takeovers. Much of the activity is coming from the U.S., where buyers continue to see UK-listed stocks as relatively cheaper than peers elsewhere. That valuation gap is doing much of the work, but it is reinforced by a market structure that still allows bidders to move quickly when they see a target they want.

Advisers say the market has been building for some time. Ashurst said the year opened with sizable proposals, including Zurich’s 8.1 billion pound offer for Beazley and Nuveen’s 9.9 billion pound bid for Schroders, while a possible Rio Tinto approach for Glencore was later withdrawn. The same firm said two thirds of firm offers announced in the first quarter of 2026 came from private equity. CMS said the UK public M&A market had already roared back in 2025, with more than 22 billion pounds in firm offers in the first half alone, and noted that 26% of firm offers that year involved listed-paper consideration.

The larger picture is just as striking. A Reuters-derived comparison put UK M&A at about 26% of GDP in 2000, about 5% in 2025 and 14% in the first quarter of 2026. PwC said UK deal volumes fell 12% in 2025 even as total deal values rose 12% and average deal size increased 28%, a sign that capital is concentrating in larger, higher-quality targets. Britain’s record year of dealmaking is shaping up as both an investment vote of confidence and a reminder that, for global buyers, some of the country’s best-known companies still look cheap enough to buy.