Overseas investors shun the UK

StevieJ

geoffky wrote: »

dan ..looks that way..i have just filled my daughters senior school application and if i don't move i don't get her in the school we want...good job i can afford to pay cash as the interest rate rises will become crippling for many.

It is expensive in Christleton

geoffky

steviej ..near but not close enough...

geoffky

bendix wrote: »

I work for a law firm. We use all the relevant directories and leaguetables published by mergermarket, thomsons reuters etc. We're fully aware of the slowdown in M&A activity.

Again, I repeat, what's the point you are trying to make?

For the record, those really in the know - law firms, accountants, investment banks - have been saying for months that most noticeable thing of the last few months is that companies have been cutting costs and conducting rights issues, largely to give themselves cash reserves for when the market starts to pick up again.

My own firm is currently working on two very large public M&A deals, the largest of the last three years.

SO sorry my lord..but other people might like the know the number but it seems you have a hot phone to the m&a markets ..but most dont.... ps i dont work for a law firm..

System

bendix wrote: »

Because I'm baffled at what point you're trying to prove.

He wasn't trying to prove anything, there's none of his own comments on the topic because it's apparent he has no idea what it means, he just saw "big number is now a small number" and posted it.

bendix

geoffky wrote: »

SO sorry my lord..but other people might like the know the number but it seems you have a hot phone to the m&a markets ..but most dont.... ps i dont work for a law firm..

That's all very well, but do you even know what the numbers mean, or did you just post because it looks alarmist?

Foreign investors shun UK companies, my a**e.

A more accurate, less alarmist, thread header would have been 'global investors stick their hand in their pockets during the downturn, as is eminently sensible.'

Generali

purch wrote: »

Is that good or bad news ??

It's bad news if you're running a trade deficit and need to finance that by bringing in foreign currency. I guess the implication could be a lower pound or reduced imports or both. I'm not sure how much imports have fallen in response to the recession/credit thingy but it's possible that the fall has reduced the need for foreign currency by enough that this amount already.

Clearly M&A activity falls in a recession. Also, many M&As are funded with debt. Hmmmm.

bendix

Generali wrote: »

Clearly M&A activity falls in a recession. Also, many M&As are funded with debt. Hmmmm.

During the bubble years, yes Generali, but the noise we are hearing is that companies are bulking up their balance sheets with secondary offerings of equity, which is obviously a much more desirable proposition.

We're currently working on only one major debt issue and that, perversely, isnt private sector. Go figure. Conversely, we've done nearly 20 equity rights issues in the last six months.

Cannon_Fodder

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ma0909.pdf

The credit crunch/recession should have dried up financing long before Q2 2009. It looked in Q3 2008, down at £3Bn, like that was the way things were going, but Q4 2008 rebounded and Q1 2009 shot back up - to a point level with 2005 "boom-time"...

Was that M&A bounce the deals being done to "wind-up/save" a number of the failing businesses over Xmas 2008...?

bendix

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ma0909.pdf

The credit crunch/recession should have dried up financing long before Q2 2009. It looked in Q3 2008, down at £3Bn, like that was the way things were going, but Q4 2008 rebounded and Q1 2009 shot back up - to a point level with 2005 "boom-time"...

Was that M&A bounce the deals being done to "wind-up/save" a number of the failing businesses over Xmas 2008...?

Are you talking about overseas acquisitions of UK companies, CF?

If so, I wouldnt call teh Q4 2008 and Q1 2009 a rebound to 2005. boomtimes. 2005 wasnt that hot, and certainly way below the real peaks a couple of years later.

Im not sure what the jump was for. I suspect one of those quarters was dominated by one deal - the EDF acquisition of British Energy. The rest would have been rats and mice.

Your idea of some foreign firms hoovering up distressed UK companies sounds about right. I wouldnt cal them wind-ups or saves though . . they are straightforward acquisitions while companies are struggling. Examples would be Molson Coors takeover of Cobra Beer, for example, or Tata's acquisition of Jaguar.

We're expecting more of the same in H2 this year. Valuations of many good targets look nicely depressed.