TAKEOVER attempts in the UK tumbled sharply in the first three months of the year as fears of a global banking crisis roiled markets and spooked the City's dealmakers.

The total number of bids for UK firms fell by over a quarter on the same period last year with just 11 new firm offers made to buy UK listed companies, according to new data from broker Peel Hunt.

The cumulative value of the proposed offers came to just £2.47bn, with bid activity heavily skewed towards small private equity-led deals.

"Bid activity was focused on the smaller end of the market, [with] 10 of the 11 firm offers for companies with undisturbed market capitalisations below £250m," Peel Hunt analysts said.

Peel Hunt found that deal activity was beginning to pick back up in the smaller end of the market however, as private equity buyers look to snap up firms on the cheap.

"After a quiet 2022, private equity showed signs of increasing activity with two-thirds of firm offers extending from a PE or privately owned bidder during the quarter," the analysts said.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper