Achieving optimal value in M&A – July 2025

The private M&A market – it was all going so well

Over the past year, the private M&A market in the UK and Europe showed signs of recovery but then stumbled with a severe case of indigestion brought on by Trump’s tariffs in April. The pressure on private equity (PE) investors to return capital to investors through exiting portfolio companies is increasing. Selling a company at any time requires clarity and conviction in articulating a compelling equity story to investors. Doing so into a market as challenging as today’s intensifies that requirement.