Those figures exclude transactions valued above £1bn, of which there were 12 in Q2 against 10 in Q1, accounting for £51.6bn of value in Q2. Include these transactions, and the market more than doubled in value, with total disclosed value rising 102% from £30.8bn to £62.3bn across 818 completed deals. The standout was Engie's £15.8bn acquisition of UK Power Networks, the largest UK completion of the year so far. Financial services dominated the rest of the big-ticket list: Janus Henderson (£4.9bn), Santander's £2.9bn purchase of TSB Banking Group, NatWest's £2.7bn acquisition of Evelyn Partners and Brookfield's £2.3bn take-private of Just Group all completed in the quarter. Eli Lilly's £6.0bn acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals was the standout UK pharma deal.
The macro backdrop deteriorated sharply through the period. War in the Middle East pushed global energy and commodity prices higher from March, and the Bank of England, which had been cutting rates roughly once a quarter through 2025, held Bank Rate at 3.75% at every meeting in the quarter.
Growth expectations moved the same way. During the quarter, the OECD reduced its growth expectations for the UK economy to 0.9% for 2026, with the OECD following a similar trend. Despite this, the UK deal market continued to function. Volumes held up, completion activity broadened, and transactions continued to flow, with the average deal size in the sub-£1bn market rising by nearly a third on the quarter (£76.1m to £100.1m).
Sector Trends
Beneath the headline numbers, sector performance diverged. Volume growth came from Industrials and Financial Services, while Business Support Services dominated the value story.
Industrials remained the busiest sector by volume, with deal count rising 9% from 248 to 271 transactions. Value moved the other way, falling 33% from £1,205.5m to £804.1m as the mix shifted towards smaller, mostly undisclosed bolt-ons. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding's £625.8m acquisition of Atlas Corp. accounted for the bulk of the sector's disclosed value on its own. Strabag's £58.7m purchase of ground engineering specialist Van Elle Holdings was more representative of the quarter – mid-market strategic consolidations.
Business Support Services was the story of the quarter by value. Disclosed value jumped from £296.8m to £3,118.1m despite deal count declining 8%, from 83 to 76. Genius Sports' £847.6m acquisition of Zeal Ltd led the sector, followed by Axel Springer's £568.7m purchase of Telegraph Media Group, a change of ownership at one of the UK's national newspaper groups and the £393.0m sale of OnlyFans rounded out the top three.
Financial Services delivered growth on both measures. Deal count rose 12% from 74 to 83 transactions. Disclosed value increased by a similar margin, from £1,638.2m to £1,843.9m, and this excludes the four £1bn-plus deals in the sector. Dai-ichi Life's £825.8m investment in M&G plc was the largest sub £1bn transaction, a further sign of Japanese insurers' appetite for UK asset management exposure. B.P. Marsh's £275.0m Pantheon Specialty deal pointed to continued demand in specialty insurance broking.
Consumer activity strengthened, with deal count rising 4% from 138 to 144, while disclosed value climbed 26% from £974.5m to £1,224.7m. Howden Joinery's £396.1m acquisition of DIY Kitchens was the sector's largest sub £1bn completion, a strategic push into the online kitchen channel. Hospitality assets also changed hands, including PPHE's £147.9m purchase of the Park Plaza London Waterloo.
Tech deal count was broadly flat, slipping from 100 to 98 transactions, but disclosed value fell 46% from £1,060.4m to £572.7m, with Long Path Partners' £304.4m take-private of IDOX plc the only disclosed deal above £100m. However, Tech remained the fourth most active sector by deal count.
Unlike most sectors, Health Care paired falling volume with sharply rising value. Deal count declined 9% from 43 to 39, yet disclosed value nearly doubled, rising 92% from £389.4m to £748.6m. The £433.1m Rayner Surgical Group transaction drove most of this increase. QuidelOrtho's £103.3m purchase of Lex Diagnostics also drove the quarter's activity.
