Mergers & Acquisitions in February 2015

February 2015 saw 186 acquisitions of UK based companies publicly announced, according to professional deals database, Zephyr.

 

One of the main talking points of the past month was undoubtedly the announcement of BT Group plc’s pending £12.5 billion acquisition of EE Ltd.

 

The deal is expected to complete by March of next year, and is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, including approval from the Competition and Markets Authority.

 

The acquisition will add mobile services to BT’s existing offering of broadband, television and fixed-line phone services to create a communications giant that will aim to compete with the likes of Virgin Media on all fronts.

 

The deal will more than treble BT’s retail customers adding the 10 million it already had to EE’s 24.5 million direct mobile subscribers.

 

Other notable deals in February include Old Mutual plc’s £576 million acquisition of Quilter Cheviot Ltd, as well as the £495 million acquisition of Freightliner Group ltd by United States based Genesee & Wyoming Inc.