As the fifth largest economy by GDP globally, the UK is home to world-class companies and sophisticated, liquid, capital markets. With a reputation for a dynamic deal-making environment, the country has long held a position towards the top of the global rankings for domestic and cross-border investment activity.

The UK ranked third in the first half of 2018 (behind the much larger markets of the US and China) for completed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity by value and volume, while London took the top spot in Europe for initial public offerings (IPOs) by value and volume in Q2 2018.

What does the future hold?

For more information on this, and how the UK compares on the global stage, please download our full report here.

ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE UK AS AN INVESTMENT DESTINATION OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS ACCORDING TO LOCATION OF RESPONDENT

Our survey results clearly demonstrate that, for many domestic and international businesses and investors, the UK remains an important deal-making destination.

Yet they also reveal why: respondents see the UK as assisting their growth and talent acquisition. In an increasingly global and digitised economy, companies need access to new products and services, highly skilled people and capital, while also finding innovative ways of doing business if they are to stay ahead of the competition. The UK, our respondents say, is an attractive location to source these, in large part because of the strength of legal and regulatory frameworks and well established corporate finance advisory community.

To find out more about the key attractions of the UK market, download our full report here.

THE RATIONALE BEHIND UK DEALS IN THE PAST TWO YEARS COMPARED WITH THE NEXT TWO YEARS

As the UK continues to discuss arrangements for leaving the European Union, there remains a high degree of uncertainty around the eventual outcome.

As a result, it’s almost impossible to gauge sentiment around the UK market without assessing the extent to which Brexit is influencing deal-makers’ attitudes. The high level of sell side M&A reported by respondents over the past two years is likely to be at least partly explained by a wariness about Brexit, although much of this work appears to have been completed, with the proportion of disposals halving for UK deals in the coming two years.

To find out more about the Brexit effect, download our full report here.

WHERE (OUTSIDE THE UK) DO YOU PLAN TO INVEST IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS?