Bargain UK stockmarkets set for a boom in mergers and acquisitions
Bargain-hunters sense opportunity in UK stockmarkets: there have been 14 takeover deals in the past month alone.
The FTSE 100 has enjoyed its best month in 31 years. Britain’s blue-chip index gained 12.4% in November, adding more than £180bn to its market value. You would have to go back to January 1989 to find a more profitable month for UK investors.
Despite the gains, the FTSE 100 remains down 16% so far this year. The UK market “has been a dog” ever since the 2016 Brexit vote, says Russ Mould for AJ Bell. But as any investor knows, the aim of the game is to “buy low” and sell high. Bargain-hunters sense opportunity. There have been 14 takeover deals in the past month alone. To quote the writer Joseph Campbell, “the cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”.
Private-equity firms have accumulated a global war chest estimated at $2.5trn, says Ben Martin in The Times. Recent bids for the AA and McCarthy & Stone show they are ready to spend in London. Data from Peel Hunt shows that there have been £22.8bn-worth of bids for London-listed firms since the start of August, never mind the awkwardness of negotiating a multimillion-pound acquisition over Zoom.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
There could be more to come. Some potential buyers are reportedly holding back while London and Brussels hash out a deal. When there is more clarity on that point, they stand ready to swoop.
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019.
Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere.
He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful.
Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.
-
More than half of over 65s live alone – here’s how to prepare for a solo retirement
Spending your mature years solo can mean more time to do the things you’ve always wanted, if you’ve planned ahead for the extra costs of single living
-
Pension inheritance tax paperwork nightmare – how to prepare to avoid penalties
Pensions will be included in inheritance tax calculations from April 2027 and in a shock move, your executors will have to shoulder the burden of finding all your unused pots
-
Britain’s fallen stars: a second chance for quality stocks
Quality stocks in the UK saw share prices collapse in the wake of Covid. That has created an opportunity for smart public investors — and private buyers
-
Rising FTSE 100 gives Rachel Reeves a win at last
Opinion The FTSE 100 index of leading shares has broken through 9,000 for the first time. That’s not as impressive as it appears, and its future is looking grim.
-
AJ Bell: a fine British fintech going cheap
Opinion Don’t overlook investment platform AJ Bell, a significantly undervalued British business with an excellent financial base
-
Aim has missed its target – will it recover?
Aim, London's junior stock market, has become less appealing to investors amid scandals and an upcoming inheritance tax blow next April. Will it make a turnaround?
-
Investors remain calm as the Middle East war unfolds
Conflict in the Middle East has failed to shake oil or stock markets. Can the peace hold?
-
London's new private stock market Pisces 'faces three big problems'
Opinion The Pisces exchange may fill a gap in the market, but it won’t address the real problem, says Matthew Lynn
-
Spectra Systems: a 'boffin-led' tech stock with business acumen
Opinion Patient investors will get paid well as they wait for success from Spectra Systems, a promising Aim stock, says Jamie Ward
-
How amateur investors could rescue UK stocks
Private investors must be the beneficiaries of a stock market recovery, says Bruce Packard – not brokers and fund managers