The total number of mergers, acquisitions, flotations, rights issues and placements announced during Q1 2012 fell by 19.8 per cent, according to figures released by Experian.
The number of deals announced fell to 944 in Q1 2012, down from 1,177 in Q1 2011. However, Scotland and the South West were the only regions to see deal volumes increase, up by 14.9 per cent and 14.1 per cent respectively.
The value of UK deals during Q1 saw a significant increase of 62.8 per cent compared to Q1 2011, led mainly by one transaction – the Glencore International Plc acquisition of Xstrata Plc for GBP39.1billion.
Cenkos Securities was the most active financial advisor by volume with 18 deals, while Goldman Sachs topped the value league with transactions worth a total of GBP45.5bn. The leading legal advisors were Pinsent Masons by volume with18 transactions and Linklaters with GBP48bn total deal value from 13 deals.
Wendy Driver (pictured), Business Development Manager at Experian Corpfin, says: “Despite an overall fall in the volume of deal activity, two regions still managed to buck the trend and values in five of the UK regions were up, influenced mainly by the biggest deal ever in the mining and quarrying industry. It was also among the highest-valued transactions in UK corporate history. This highlights that firms are managing to find the funds to invest.”
