M&A – Reasons to be confident

For many of us, September marks the return to a more regular work / life routine…the best of the British Summer is likely behind us, but no reason to despair – as the British Autumn is also a wonderful place to be.

And thematically, that seems to be a reasonable description of where we judge business confidence and M&A activity levels. To summarise:

1.  Key economic data still lacks some consistency, but the underlying trend is one of improving business confidence and business performance. This is absolutely what we observe across our clients and business network.

2.  The cost of borrowing is now starting to come down and that is having a positive effect on investment. In any event, the business community continues to adjust to generally overall higher funding costs, recognising this is likely to be the case for at least the medium term.

3.  Inflation is considerably lower than it has been though we are likely to see spikes and specific areas of surprise here and there.

4.  We stay away from politics, but the election of a new UK Government is providing a sense of stability which is leading to improved confidence at the consumer level and flowing through into large (but not all) parts of the economy.

5.  As ever, it is the endeavour of the most talented and ambitious business leaders that defines success vs. ‘flat-line’ performance. Capital is being increasingly selective on backing such top decile performers.

Our very high activity levels reflect these key themes. We have completed 7 deals in the last 6 months. Our WIP is equally strong.

We might modestly suggest we have been busier than many, and we put this down simply to the quality of clients who place their trust in us to deliver Partner-led, truly independent advice. They are the top decile performers in their industries.

It would be remiss of us not to recognise the UK, and the World in general, still faces notable risks at a geo-political level, and the pace of impact from such events can be sharp. We are also very mindful of the October budget and taxation changes that may accrue. However good and great businesses never stand still, whatever the fiscal environment.

As Summer moves to Autumn, there are strong reasons to be increasingly confident and we look forward to working with our valuable clients and connectors to deliver great transaction outcomes through the rest of 2024 and beyond.