UK Public M&A Update

Overview

As one would expect against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, Q2 saw very low levels of deal activity. Only five firm offers were announced in Q2 2020 (compared to eight in a relatively quiet Q1 2020 and 21 in Q4 2019), with a combined offer value of £155.8 million (representing a very large decrease compared to £2.37 billion in Q1 2020 and £11.27 billion in Q4 2019). Of those five offers, two were all cash and three were all shares.

In the last quarter, Ashurst mandates included advising Moss Bros Group plc ("Moss Bros") on the attempt by Brigadier Acquisition Company Limited ("Brigadier") to lapse its offer for Moss Bros in light of circumstances triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A summary of the key features of each announced offer is set out in a table in the Appendix (refer to the attached PDF).

Q2 was also relatively quiet from a regulatory and legal news perspective. Notable exceptions included the significant and precedent setting ruling from the Panel Executive on Brigadier/Moss Bros, as well as the new merger control protections regarding public health and national security matters announced by the government.

Further details of this and a few other developments are set out in the News Digest on pages 2 to 6 of the update (download below).