Peel Hunt: Reversal of UK economic trends 'vital' as UK equity outflows hits £22bn

M&A providing some light relief

Peel Hunt’s head of research, Charles Hall, has called for dwindling growth in the UK equity market to be addressed by the new government.

UK M&A activity has skyrocketed in the first half of 2024 as 32 transactions of over £100m were announced in the six-month period, placing the UK second behind the US by value globally. Recent large bids for Hargreaves Lansdown, Darktrace and DS Smith are notable contributions to this activity. FTSE 'paddling sideways' as dividends propped up by takeovers and buybacks Large-cap companies dominated the transactions list for H1, as 17 of the 32 transactions were FTSE 350 companies, compared to three in the FTSE SmallCap and ten on the Alternative Investment Market. This marks a signi...