Foreign deals help the City’s bankers net £466m in fees

CITY bankers will share in €543m (£466m) of fees after a surge in foreign swoops on British businesses.

A slew of deal negotiations in the first three months of the year has seen a near tripling of UK deal value to €52bn, according to figures from Dealogic.

Investment banks earn advisory fees on deals and the recent takeover activity has helped ease concerns of another M&A drought in the London market after a difficult 2023. In total, bankers are expected to pocket €543m of revenue from Uk-targeted M&A in the first quarter, the highest level since €574m recorded in the 2021 post-covid boom, according to Dealogic.

One City M&A adviser said low inflation and clearer interest rate expectations were giving chief executives more confidence to do deals.

He said: “The overriding sense is that animal spirits are back. It’s been really tough for the past 18 months. The outlook now is more certain.

“Pricing and financing are coming down which is generally more supportive of M&A. People are playing catch-up.”

The bidding war for FTSE 100 paper manufacturer DS Smith is likely to bolster fees further.

American rivals Mondi and International Paper are currently lining up rival bids for the business, which could be sold for up to £5bn

Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Citi are among the banks working on the deal.

US company GXO Logistics’ takeover of haulage group Wincanton and a £1bn bid battle for electronics group Spirent have also added to the haul.

On the Wincanton deal, bankers’ fees are £32m alone, according to takeover documents.

Domestically, Nationwide’s planned £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money will also lead to a big banker payout.

The largest private takeover of the period was All3media’s £1.1bn takeover by Redbird IMI.

That is followed by Caryle’s £910m takeover of Jagex.

JP Morgan held the top spot for UK M&A fees earned.

It was followed by Rothschild and Bank of America.

€52bn A slew of deal negotiations in the first three months of the year has seen a near tripling of UK deal value