Mergers & Acquisitions in February 2016

February ended positively with 209 completed deals involving UK based companies, as recorded by M&A deal database Zephyr.

One of the largest and more notable deals within the UK was the acquisition of Betfair Group plc by Paddy Power plc, for £3 billion. This deal was previously reported by Company Valuation Services in September’s edition of the monthly round up.

The deal sees the combined business, now known as Paddy Power Betfair, become the world’s largest listed online betting company, with only a reported 3% crossover of UK online customers using both companies. Given the enormity of the deal, the newly formed company will now move into the prestigious FTSE 100 index.

Elsewhere, the largest deal involved oil company, Royal Dutch Shell plc, acquiring BG Group plc, a British multinational oil and gas company who are the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas to the USA, for a sum of £47 billion.