Here’s why investors shouldn’t worry about the M&A boom

There has been an explosion in company mergers and takeovers recently. Matthew Partridge talks to fund manager Sue Noffke, who explains why investors shouldn’t worry too much.

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US media giant Comcast wants to take over Sky TV
(Image credit: 2018 Getty Images)

One of the big stories of this year is the recent growth in M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity. After several years of relatively weak activity, there has been an explosion in mergers over the past six months, especially those involving foreign companies trying to buy their UK counterparts. Some of the most well known bids are Comcast's proposal to take control of Sky, and Japanese drug giant Takeda's bid for Shire.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri