Stay in the know
Receive timely insights and briefings from HSF Kramer, tailored to keep you informed and ahead
Subscribe now
8 7月 2025
Insight
UK
In June 2025, there were twelve Rule 2.7 announcements made across the UK public M&A market and five further possible offers announced.
Firm Offers announced this month:
- Recommended cash offer by HGGC LLC for Inspired plc – £183.6 million – public to private
- Recommended cash and share offer by Tritax Big Box REIT plc for Warehouse REIT plc – £485.2 million
- Recommended cash offer by Advent International L.P. for Spectris plc – £3.8 billion – public to private
- Recommended cash offer by Bagnall Energy Limited for Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust plc – £174.55 million – public to private
- Recommended cash and shares offer by Dundee Precious Metals Inc for Adriatic Metals plc – £924 million
- Recommended cash offer by MPE mgt Co for Renold plc – £186.7 million – public to private
- Recommended cash offer by EDF Energy Customers Limited for Pod Point Group Holdings plc – £10.6 million
- Recommended final cash offer by WSP Global Inc. for Ricardo plc – £281 million
- Recommended cash offer by Qualcomm Incorporated for Alphawave IP Group plc – £1.8 billion – listed and unlisted securities alternative
- Recommended cash and share offer by Mitie Group plc for Marlowe plc – £366 million
- Hostile cash offer by Blackstone Inc. for Warehouse REIT plc – £470 million – public to private
- Recommended cash offer by Viaro Energy Limited for Deltic Energy plc – £6.9 million
Possible Offer announced this month:
- Strategic review including sale process announced by ME Group International plc.
- Possible cash offer for Spectris plc by Advent– £3.9 billion – cash and unlisted securities alternative (firm offer subsequently announced)
- Possible offer by The Unite Group plc for Empiric Student Property plc – £719 million – cash and shares
- Possible offer by Mitie Group plc for Marlowe plc – (firm offer subsequently announced)
- Possible offer by Harwood Private Equity LLP for Frenkel Topping Group – £64 million – cash, unlisted securities and loan note alternative
Firm Offers breakdown this month:
Year to date breakdown:
June 2025 Updates:
UK Public M&A podcast Ep 34: Auctions under the Takeover Code
In this episode we talk about auction procedures under the Takeover Code.
We discuss:
- what an auction procedure is;
- when they are used; and
- how they work.
To listen to the full conversation please visit SoundCloud, Spotify or Apple.
All episodes in our UK public M&A podcast series are available on our public M&A podcast page.
June 2025 Insights:
The number of firm offers announced this month is the highest seen in June over the past five years, with the announcement of twelve firm offers. There has been a slight downtick in possible offers compared to 2024, with only five announced (compared to seven in 2024). Activity levels for 2025 so far continue to grow steadily to 2024, with 42 firm offers in 2025, compared to 32 in 2024 at the same stage.
The firm offers by private equity firms talk about the benefit to a company of being taken private. For example, on the offer by Advent International LP for Spectis, Advent states that private ownership would allow Spectris "further opportunity and flexibility to accelerate investment in key areas for growth". So far in 2025, the level of P2P transactions is lower than in 2023 and 2024. However, with 17 P2P transactions already recorded this year, there is still ample time for 2025 to catch up. This early activity suggests that the trend of increasing P2P transactions is likely to continue throughout the year.
June also saw a significant number of competitive situations, with competing firm offers for Spectris (by KKR and Advent), Warehouse REIT (by Tritax Big Box REIT and Blackstone) and Inspired (from HGGC and Regent). This is the continuation of a theme we have seen emerging in the course of the year, with competing bids also made for Assura and Harmony Energy Income Trust so far in 2025. We talked about how competitive bids may play out in one of our public M&A podcasts which you can listen to here.
Useful links
- Herbert Smith Freehills Takeovers Portal.
- Herbert Smith Freehills Public M&A Podcast Series.
- The Takeover Code.
- The Takeover Panel’s Disclosure Table (detailing offeree companies and offerors currently in an offer period).
Key contacts
Mark Bardell
Partner, London
Robert Moore
Partner, London
Antonia Kirkby
Knowledge Counsel, London
Stephen Wilkinson
Consultant, London
Legal Notice
The contents of this publication are for reference purposes only and may not be current as at the date of accessing this publication. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action based on this publication.
© Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer 2026