Corporate Partner Simon Allport contributes to LexisNexis’ latest Market Tracker on UK Public M&A
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LexisNexis has published its latest Market Tracker report looking at the trends in UK public M&A transactions during 2021. This in-depth analysis includes an insight into growth areas, regulatory changes, transactions announced in 2021, and what we can expect to see from the public M&A market in 2022.
The report looks transactions involving both Main Market and AIM companies which are subject to the UK Takeover Code, exploring 53 firm offers, 52 possible offers, and five formal sale processes and/or strategic reviews. It details analysis of high-profile transactions and identifies the most active sectors in the public M&A space, including Technology, Real Estate, and Media.
The report includes expert commentary throughout from seasoned practitioners across the City, including from Simon Allport, Corporate Partner at Bird & Bird.
Simon provides insight on a range of issues, including his views on the effects of the National Security and Investment Act, where he comments: “UK PLCs have continued to represent attractive investment opportunities for overseas bidders, particularly those from the US, and the more demanding regulatory framework does not seem to be slowing interest down. While the real effect of the National Security and Investment Act remains to be felt when it takes effect in early 2022, it should be remembered that this will only apply to targets active in the 17 sensitive sectors covered by the new regime. This will leave plenty of other sectors where there continue to be relatively limited regulatory hurdles for overseas bidders to overcome.”
Simon also commented on the high level of activity in many of the core sectors in which Bird & Bird operates, where he comments: “We see a strong continued interest in industries driven by technology and the digital world, such as the TMT, Financial Service and Healthcare sectors. Equally sectors such as Real Estate and Retail, where many companies continue to trade at a significant discount to their net asset value, will continue to represent attractive investment propositions for bidders with a longer time horizon for their investments.”
