Bankers are set for a £2bn fees bonanza after a year of frenzied takeover activity.
The value of mergers and acquisitions involving British companies has jumped 36 per cent this year to £250bn, according to data from Dealogic.
And fees earned by investment bankers working on the deals have risen 19 per cent to £2.1bn – the highest level since 2021.
Accountants, lawyers and other advisers are also set to have scooped huge payouts following a wave of takeovers.
Among the biggest deals this year are the £5.4bn purchase of Hargreaves Lansdown by private equity giant CVC, the sale of Britvic to Carlsberg for £3.3bn, and the £2.9bn buyout of Virgin Money by Nationwide.
Others include the £3.7bn takeover of Direct Line by Aviva, though mining giant BHP failed in its £39bn bid for Anglo American.
Takeover bonanza: A wave of buy-outs and mergers has hit the City this year
Advisers typically share fees of between 1 per cent and 5 per cent of the takeover value, with bankers taking the lion’s share.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said a bumper year will be ‘music to the ears of investment bankers’ and other advisers.
Among those to hit the jackpot are advisers working on the £3.6bn takeover of Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services (IDS) by billionaire tycoon Daniel Kretinsky.
Deal documents reveal bankers, lawyers and others will share £146m – 4 per cent of the price. Among those cashing in is the former Labour frontbencher Chuka Umunna, who now works for JP Morgan and is advising Kretinsky.
From Chancellor to banker: George Osborne now works for Robey Warshaw
George Osborne is another former politician to have benefited from the takeover frenzy.
The former Chancellor now works for boutique investment bank Robey Warshaw and was one of four partners to share a £70m payday this year.
Robey is advising Direct Line on its deal with Aviva, having previously defended it from a takeover by Belgian group Ageas this year.
The investment bank, where Osborne has worked since 2021, also advised video games company Keyword Studios when it was bought by private equity group EQT for £2bn.
Also in the money are bankers at Goldman Sachs, which advised on more takeovers involving UK companies than any other bank in the first nine months of the year, according to LSEG.
Lucille Jones, senior manager at LSEG, said that the surge in activity has been ‘driven by mega deals as foreign buyers and private equity made moves’.
Coatsworth said: ‘There has been a lot of action in the large and mid-cap space – music to the ears of bankers and legal advisers if they’re collecting a fee based on the size of the deal. The UK is on sale.’
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