Virgin Media deal hikes up value of UK M&A 12 April 2013London Reporter: Georgina Lavers
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UK M&A activity was at £23.5 billion and 213 deals in the first quarter of 2013, up 46.9 percent compared to Q1 2012 (£16 billion), but down 22.5 percent in deal count (275 deals), said Mergermarket in its roundup.
The UK witnessed a second consecutive quarterly increase, up 27 percent from Q4 2012 (£18.5 billion), and accounted for 31.7 percent of total European M&A (£74.1 billion) activity, up from 15.6 percent in the same period last year.
Results are largely down to the country’s top deal where Liberty Global acquired Virgin Media for £20 billion, contributing 59.2 percent to total UK M&A.
The Virgin mega-deal influenced the sector breakdown for the country, boosting the media sector deal value up to £14.7 billion, and foreign investments into the country increased by 68.4 percent compared to Q1 2012.
Having advised on £17.1 billion-worth of deals including the top UK deal, Goldman Sachs moved up from second place last year to take the lead in the financial advisor League Table by deal value.
Hogan Lovells topped the legal advisor table by deal value after advising on 11 deals worth £14.7 billion, including the Virgin Media deal.
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