According to Experian, there was an increase in mergers and acquisitions for the telecoms section in the United Kingdom. This was despite the general decrease in mergers and acquisitions in the country during the first half of the year.
The latest report from Experian noted an increase in the value of deals. From GBP4.4 billion in 2012, the value of deals in 2013 reached GBP23.8 billion. Throughout Europe, deal values increased by 77%. In addition, the overall number of deals also rose by 11.9%.
The biggest transaction was the acquisition of Virgin Media by Liberty Global. The acquisition closed for GBP15 billion in June. On the other hand, the biggest deal of UK companies abroad was that of Vodafone. Vodafone bought Kabel Deutschland, a German telecom, for GBP6.6 billion.
According to Matt Walker of Ovum, "M&A is part of the natural growth and decline of the telecoms industry. There are always mergers, even during the relatively quiet quarters." In addition, Walker added, "The recent upswing is, most directly, due to North America. M&A has picked up there and [North American] merger deals are almost always fairly big."
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