South East deal value peaks at £13bn - top dealmakers for Q1 2024 revealed

M&A activity in the South East has taken off at a slower rate in Q1 2024 than in the same period last year – though deal value has shot up since the last quarter, according to a new report from Experian.

A total of 217 deals were recorded this quarter – 23 per cent fewer than the 283 announced last year – but their total value peaked at £13 billion, up from £2.7 billion in Q4 2023.

This kind of spike is one the region hasn’t seen in Q1 since 2017, when values reached £21 billion.

The South East has so far seen three multibillion-pound mega deals this quarter.

In February, Newbury-based Vodafone agreed to sell Vodafone Italy to Swisscom in a deal worth £6.8 billion, marking the third and final step of reshaping Vodafone’s European footprint.

Proceeds will be used to return £3.4 billion to Vodafone shareholders via share buybacks, representing the second largest deal in the region and expected to commence following completion of the sale of the firm’s Spanish operations.

The third mega deal was the sale of Crawley-based Spirent Communications to Keysight Technologies in the US, which outbid rival Viavi Solutions – yet another instance of a UK-listed company being targeted by foreign acquirors while the pound remains weak.

The South East also saw a spike in mid-market deals, with value up 23 per cent this quarter on last year’s figures.

Below are the top dealmakers for the region in Q1 2024...

Manufacturing was the principal driver of industry activity in the year to date, with value up 415 per cent to just under £1.7 billion from £328 million the previous year.

Professional services came in a close second, with the 52 deals just over 24 per cent down on last years’ figures, while value remained relatively unchanged year-on-year.

And deals in the infocomms space fell by 48 per cent, but values were up by a substantial margin of 540 per cent.