Mergers & Acquisitions in July 2017
Company deals database, Zephyr, reports that over 160 deals were completed involving UK targets during July. These deals generated aggregate deal values of over £5.35bn, representing a 19% increase on the values observed throughout the month of June 2017.
The most valuable deal witnessed during the month of July involved the acquisition of WS Atkins plc, a British multinational engineering, design, planning, architectural and project management consultancy.
The industry leader was acquired by Canadian engineering group, SNC-Lavalin, for a value of £2.10bn. According to the Financial Times, the deal represents a step towards consolidation in the global engineering consultancy sector.
The month of July also saw household name Weetabix Ltd acquired by Post Holdings Inc. The UK-based cereal manufacturer was put up for sale by its previous Chinese-based owner, Bright Food, in January of this year, and was eventually purchased by US firm Post Holdings for a value of £1.4bn.
Linpac Senior Holdings Ltd, the long-established food packaging firm, was also acquired in its entirety during the month of July. Linpac was acquired by German business Klockner Pentaplast, one of the globe’s largest suppliers of films to the pharmaceutical, medical, food, electronics and general packaging sectors, for over £438m. According to Packaging News, the move will create a $2bn powerhouse within the rigid and flexible film market.
With many more announced and rumoured deals in the pipeline, with some rumoured values standing at over £1bn, the next few months are set to be an exciting period for the UK M&A industry.
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