Foreign Acquisitions of UK Companies Jump to £25.4 Billion in Q2

Foreign companies completed £25.4 billion of acquisitions involving UK companies in the second quarter of 2026, a sharp increase in value from the start of the year even as fewer inward deals were completed. The provisional total was £9.7 billion higher than the £15.7 billion recorded in the first quarter and £15.7 billion above the £9.7 billion recorded in the same period of 2025.

The rise in value did not come with a broader increase in deal volume. There were an estimated 162 completed inward acquisitions in the April-to-June quarter, down from 183 in the first quarter and 203 a year earlier. Across domestic, inward and outward M&A combined, the number of completed deals fell to 353 from 407 in the previous quarter.

The Office for National Statistics, which released the figures on September 1, said the second-quarter estimates are provisional and may be revised. It also cautioned that quarterly M&A values can move sharply because a small number of large acquisitions can have an outsized effect on the total.

Deal values rose even as acquisition counts fell

The contrast between the £25.4 billion inward value and the lower number of completed acquisitions is the clearest feature of the quarter. ONS said the high inward total included a few acquisitions worth more than £1 billion each. That means the headline increase reflects the size of completed deals more than a surge in the number of foreign buyers taking control of UK companies.

Monthly figures point to the same pattern of subdued volume. Inward acquisitions numbered 61 in April, fell to 45 in May and recovered to 56 in June. The combined count for domestic and cross-border M&A was 139 in April, 102 in May and 112 in June, leaving the quarter below the first three months of the year despite the much stronger value of foreign acquisitions.

Other parts of the UK M&A market moved in different directions. Domestic acquisitions were valued at £4.2 billion in the second quarter, up from £1.8 billion in the first quarter and £3.4 billion a year earlier. The number of domestic acquisitions nevertheless fell to 130 from 142 in the previous quarter and 241 in the second quarter of 2025.

Outward M&A weakened on both measures. UK companies completed £2.7 billion of acquisitions of foreign companies, down from £4.1 billion in the first quarter and £3.6 billion a year earlier. The outward deal count fell to 61 from 82 in the previous quarter and 84 a year earlier.

UK Power Networks helped set the quarter apart

ONS identified two notable inward acquisitions in the quarter: the purchase of UK Network Holdings by France’s ENGIE and Eli Lilly’s acquisition of UK-based Centessa Pharmaceuticals. Both were large enough to help explain why the value of inward M&A rose while the number of completed deals declined.

ENGIE had agreed in February to acquire 100% of UK Power Networks for an equity value of £10.5 billion, with an enterprise value of £15.8 billion. The utility said the acquisition would expand its regulated electricity-network business and make the UK its second-largest country of activity. UK Power Networks serves about 8.5 million customers across London, the South East and the East of England, giving the deal a scale that stands out in a quarter shaped by a handful of large completions.

In its February acquisition announcement, ENGIE said UK Power Networks operated roughly 192,000 kilometres of electricity network and delivered about 71 terawatt-hours of electricity a year. ENGIE later said completion was expected on May 7, and UK Power Networks records May 2026 as the month it became part of the ENGIE group.

Lilly completed its acquisition of Centessa on June 24 after agreeing in March to pay $38 in cash per share plus a contingent value right worth up to another $9 per share if specified drug-development milestones are reached. The upfront offer represented an aggregate equity value of about $6.3 billion, with up to roughly $1.5 billion of additional contingent value. Centessa is developing orexin receptor 2 agonists for sleep-wake disorders, and Lilly said the acquisition would expand its neuroscience portfolio.

The company deal values should not be treated as a simple decomposition of the ONS £25.4 billion total. The statistical bulletin is compiled under its own survey definitions and valuation methods, while individual companies may describe acquisitions using equity value, enterprise value, cash consideration or contingent payments. The broader point is that ONS explicitly identified these purchases as notable completions in a quarter when a few large deals lifted the aggregate.

The £25.4 billion headline comes with important limits

The ONS series covers mergers and acquisitions worth at least £1 million that result in a change of ultimate control. An acquisition is counted once it has been legally completed, not when a bid is first announced, and the internationally agreed control threshold is more than 50% of ordinary shares or voting rights. That timing distinction matters because months can pass between an announcement and completion, and some announced deals never close.

The figures are also reported in current prices, so they are not adjusted for inflation. ONS warns against drawing a straight line from one quarter’s M&A value to the wider economy because the series is volatile and can be dominated by one-off deals. For that reason, the £25.4 billion result is evidence of a strong quarter for the value of completed foreign acquisitions, but not by itself evidence that UK corporate investment or dealmaking strengthened across the board.

That distinction is relevant against a more cautious business backdrop. The Bank of England’s June summary of its regional Agents said investment intentions had become more subdued and were broadly flat for the coming year, with uncertainty and financing conditions weighing on commitments to new projects. A large M&A quarter can coexist with that caution because these statistics capture completed changes of control and may reflect decisions made well before the quarter in which they are recorded.

ONS said revisions to the first and second quarter estimates can move in either direction, although revisions are more often upward than downward. The next quarterly M&A bulletin is scheduled for December 1, when the current provisional picture may be revised and investors will get the first official read on completed UK acquisitions in the third quarter.