The value of mergers and acquisitions of UK stock market listed companies has surged 175% in 2026 to $132.9bn, according to the London Stock Exchange, as overseas buyers snap up British companies at record pace.
The fees were fuelled by a string of corporate takeovers driven by a flood of private equity cash and acquisitive American buyers targeting undervalued British businesses.
Bankers at JP Morgan have been the busiest, advising on more takeovers involving UK companies than any other bank this year – a total of 14 deals worth a combined $89.4bn, according to the LSE.
Jamie Dimon, the billionaire boss of JP Morgan, has issued several warnings to Andy Burnham and his chancellor, John Healey, against raising taxes on banks in his inaugural budget on 28 October.
4 sentences from our version of the report,
chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below.
How
Headline check
Headline as published: London’s investment bankers and lawyers make more than £1bn in takeover frenzy
There is nothing in this headline a machine can check against the report: no figure, no name and no quotation.
Fees paid in the year’s mergers and acquisitions spark anger over high City pay during cost of living crisis.
The value of mergers and acquisitions of UK stock market listed companies has surged 175% in 2026 to $132.9bn, according to the London Stock Exchange, as overseas buyers snap up British companies at record pace.
Fees paid to investment bankers, lawyers and accountants working on these deals topped £1.2bn, official filings suggest, helping drive multimillion-pound pay packets.
The fees were fuelled by a string of corporate takeovers driven by a flood of private equity cash and acquisitive American buyers targeting undervalued British businesses.
The takeover activity has fed advisory business at the biggest banks and law firms in the City. Bankers at JP Morgan have been the busiest, advising on more takeovers involving UK companies than any other bank this year – a total of 14 deals worth a combined $89.4bn, according to the LSE. The leading law firm was Slaughter and May, it found.
Jamie Dimon, the billionaire boss of JP Morgan, has issued several warnings to Andy Burnham and his chancellor, John Healey, against raising taxes on banks in his inaugural budget on 28 October.
Overall, dealmaker fees are likely to be even higher this year as the figures do not include deals which did not complete, were rejected or for which documents have not been published – including the £5.7bn takeover of the FTSE 100 airline easyJet by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, agreed last month.
Shortened to 1 minute
of reading, this version reads 10.8 on the Niral Score.
You are reading our version, not theirs.
This is The Guardian Australia (Business)'s report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with
verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives
that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations
are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure
this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.
How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it
No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.
Readers can ask a question about this story here.
Questions and answers are for subscribers.
Sign in
to read them.
Comments are read before they appear where anything in them needs a person to look.
Nothing posted here is ever deleted; a comment taken down keeps its text and the reason,
so the decision can be looked at again. How this works
