Mergers and acquisitions involving UK companies: July to September 2025

• The total value of completed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) was broadly unchanged in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025, but the number of completed domestic M&A decreased to its lowest level since 2017.

• The provisional combined number of M&A involving a change in majority share ownership was 456 during Quarter 3 2025; this was a fall of 75 from Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025 (531).

• There were an estimated 190 acquisitions involving a change in majority share ownership in July 2025, followed by a fall to 131 in August before increasing to 135 during September 2025.

• The value of domestic M&A (UK companies acquiring other UK companies), during Quarter 3 2025 was £5.3 billion, which was £1.9 billion higher than in Quarter 2 2025 (£3.4 billion), despite the low number of M&A deals.

• The value of outward M&A (UK companies acquiring foreign companies) was £3.4 billion in Quarter 3 2025, £0.2 billion higher than in the previous quarter (£3.2 billion).

• Inward M&A (foreign companies acquiring UK companies) during Quarter 3 2025 was £7.9 billion, £1.8 billion less than the value in Quarter 2 2025 (£9.7 billion).

The provisional total combined number of monthly domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in July 2025 was 190. The number fell sharply to 131 in August and remained broadly the same during September 2025 (135).

Domestic monthly M&A recorded 76 transactions in July 2025, before decreasing to 30 during August and increasing to 52 in September 2025.

Outward monthly M&A saw broadly the same number of transactions during July (30), August (27) and September 2025 (27).

Inward monthly M&A saw 84 acquisitions in July 2025, falling to 74 during August and 56 in September.

The Bank of England's Agent's summary of business conditions – November 2025 reported that:

"Uncertainty, subdued demand, and financial constraints remain the main limiting factors on investment intentions. Fewer contacts than in the last round mentioned UK labour cost pressures from the changes to National Living Wage (NLW) and employer contributions to National Insurance (NICs), suggesting the impact is settling. Mentions of international trade uncertainty also declined. Despite this, some multinationals still prioritize non-UK investment, citing fiscal policy uncertainty, energy costs, planning delays, and labour costs as deterrents to UK-based investment".

This same report stated that "Mergers and acquisitions and other high-value transactions remain weak".

The provisional value of domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&A), UK companies acquiring other UK companies during Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025, was £5.3 billion. This was a notable increase of £1.9 billion when compared with both Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025 (£3.4 billion) and Quarter 3 2024 (£4.5 billion).

At least one notable domestic M&A transaction that completed in Quarter 3 2025 was:

• Aviva PLC of the UK, which acquired Direct Line Insurance Group PLC, also of the UK

Number of quarterly domestic mergers and acquisitions transactions involving UK companies

There were an estimated 158 completed domestic M&A transactions involving a change in majority share ownership in Quarter 3 2025, 89 fewer than in the previous quarter (247) and 41 fewer than Quarter 3 2024 (199). Despite the high value of domestic M&A in the quarter, this was the lowest number of transactions since Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2017.

The provisional estimated value of outward mergers and acquisitions (M&A), UK companies acquiring foreign companies, was £3.4 billion in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025. This was £0.2 billion higher than in the previous quarter (£3.2 billion), although £0.4 billion less than Quarter 3 2024 (£3.8 billion).

One large valued outward acquisition that completed in Quarter 3 2025 was:

• GSK PLC of the UK, which acquired BP Asset IX INC of the USA.

Number of quarterly outward mergers and acquisitions transactions involving UK companies

There were an estimated 84 outward acquisitions involving a change in majority share ownership in Quarter 3 2025. This was six more than in the previous quarter (78) and 18 more than Quarter 3 2024 (66).

The provisional estimated value of inward mergers and acquisitions (M&A), foreign companies acquiring UK companies in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025 was £7.9 billion. This was £1.8 billion less than the value reported for the previous quarter (£9.7 billion), and £3.6 billion lower than Quarter 3 2024 (£11.5 billion).

A notable inward acquisition which completed in Quarter 3 2025 was:

• Life Molecular Imaging Ltd of the UK, which was acquired by Lantheus Holdings INC of the USA.

Number of quarterly inward mergers and acquisitions transactions involving UK companies

There were an estimated 214 inward M&A deals during Quarter 3 2025. This was eight more than the previous quarter (206), and one more than Quarter 3 2024 (213).

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. Users are, therefore, advised to take care when comparing recent estimates with the number of transactions reported for quarters prior to 2018.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Mergers and acquisitions involving UK companies (M&A) 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 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, with a value of at least £1 million

• the transactions result 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 tables 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 were completed in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 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.