Ashurst has published its review of the UK Public M&A market for Q2 2017.
Overview
18 firm offers were announced in Q2 2017 (compared to 19 in Q4 2016 and nine in Q1 2017) with a combined offer value of £8.68bn (a decrease compared to nearly £15bn in Q4 2016 and £10.75bn in Q1 2017). Of those 18 offers, 11 were in cash, three were cash and shares, with two of those three containing a mix and match facility (Kennedy-Wilson Holding/Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate and Elis/Berendsen) and four were
all-share mergers.
In the last quarter, Ashurst mandates have included advising: (i) Berendsen plc on its recommended £2.17bn acquisition by Elis SA; (ii) J.P. Morgan as financial adviser to Fiserv on its £70m recommended cash offer for Monitise plc; and (iii) Waterman Group plc on its recommended £43m acquisition by Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed CTI Engineering Co. Limited.
A summary of the key features of each announced offer is set out in a table in the Appendix.
| Announced bids |
18 |
| Recommended |
13 |
| Schemes of arrangement |
9 |
| Average of bid premia (unweighted) |
35.86% |
| Average of bid premia (weighted) |
30.17% |
During Q2, there were no significant regulatory developments. That said, the Takeover Panel (the Panel) did make a number of detail changes to the Takeover Code (the Code) and announced several decisions that are worth noting. Further details of these developments are set out in the News Digest on pages 2 and 3 of this publication.
