The rainmakers have been in action. No deal drought here. Bidders ABB, OCS, ECP and KKR spell out a busy summer.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

July saw nine announced UK Code deals, including two offers over £3 billion, a hostile bid, a competing bid and a reverse takeover.
Talks involving SEGRO and easyJet continued, with Prologis announcing a £14.3 billion recommended offer for SEGRO after month end on 4 August and Apollo (Eagle Bidco) soaring ahead of rival Castlelake and announcing a £5.7 billion recommended cash offer for easyJet on 6 August.
Add in KKR and ECP’s Irish Takeover Code-governed £5.75 billion offer for DCC Energy and the heat was on!

9(+80% vs. July 2025 firm offers)

Firm Offers Announced

38%(+1% vs. 2025 average)

Avg. Bid Premium

£9.03B(-£4.84B vs. June 2026)

Total Deal Value

£308.3M(-£101.75M vs. June 2026)

Median Deal Size

Rotork plc

Deal Size: £4.1B

Bidders: ABB Limited

“A” is for ABB Limited’s £4.1 billion recommended cash offer for FTSE 250 liquid and gas flow specialist Rotork plc announced on 16 July, with Swiss-based ABB also offering to acquire all of Rotork’s listed preference shares under a separate non-Code-governed scheme.

System1 Group plc

Deal Size: £43.1M

Bidders: Brave Bison Group plc

“B” is for Brave Bison Group plc’s hostile cash and share offer for System1 Group plc, announced on 30 July and valued at £43.1 million. The offer includes an all-share alternative as a result of triggering Rule 11.2 of the Code.

Mitie Group plc

Deal Size: £3.1B

Bidders: OCS Group International Limited (owned by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice)

“C” is for Clayton, Dubilier & Rice-owned OCS Group International Limited’s £3.1 billion recommended cash offer for FTSE 250 Mitie Group plc announced on 21 July.

DCC Energy plc

Deal Size: £5.75B

Bidders: Energy Capital Partners and KKR

“D” is for DCC Energy plc and the £5.75 billion recommended cash offer for it by Energy Capital Partners and KKR announced on 27 July. The offer for FTSE 100 DCC Energy is governed by the Irish Takeover Code and includes another example of a contingent value right (“CVR”).

Pharos Energy plc

Deal Size: £146.4M

Bidders: Ratio Petroleum Energy LP and Serica Energy plc

“E” is for Egypt, energy and the bid battle between Ratio Petroleum Energy LP and Serica Energy plc for Pharos Energy plc. Ratio’s £124.3 million recommended cash offer for Pharos on 24 June was trumped by Serica’s £145.7 million recommended cash offer on 26 July, only for Ratio to come back with an improved £146.4 million recommended cash offer on 7 August.

JULY AT A GLANCE

Offers Announced: July firm offers reach 9, the busiest month since the 2025 peak, with the pipeline building as possible offers jump to 7

As at 31 July 2026.

Offers by Sector (YTD): Oil, gas and chemicals drove July activity, drawing level with financial as the joint largest sector YTD

As at 31 July 2026.

Bid PremiaAs at 31 July 2026.

Financial Advisor Fees (% deal value)

As at 31 July 2026.

Public M&A

WHAT’S HAPPENED: JULY 2026

KKR and ECP complete their Irish Odyssey (or DCC)

KKR and Energy Capital Partners (“ECP”) sailed to Dublin rather than Troy, but it was still a lengthy adventure. Lookouts first spotted and outed the Consortium on 29 April, the day of its initial indicative approach to DCC Energy plc (“DCC”), the London-listed FTSE 100 international energy sales and distribution group. It was not until almost three months later, on 27 July, that the DCC board recommended the Consortium’s improved offer, which was not a wooden horse but instead a cash deal, the fixed component of which values DCC at £5.75 billion.

The recommended offer does, however, have a gift hidden inside in the form of a potential additional payment equivalent to a CVR. The additional payment is linked to the sale by DCC of its technology business Nexora. If the sale occurs within a specified time frame and net proceeds are greater than $800 million, then DCC shareholders will receive an additional 125 pence per share (with the additional consideration scaled back on a linear basis if net proceeds are under this threshold).

The Consortium’s interest in DCC was in the public domain for a full month longer than EQT’s approach to Intertek (which itself seemed long at the time, being 16 April to 18 June), highlighting the complexity involved and the trend of target boards (and bidders) showing increased patience in their efforts to get the best deal for all.

The Gibson Dunn team is proud to be assisting KKR and the Consortium with the transaction.

A merger, demerger or two mergers?

One transaction in the public domain even longer than the bid for DCC is LondonMetric Property plc and Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust Limited’s (“SREIT”) potential acquisition of Picton Property Income Limited. The initial Rule 2.4 announcements were on 24 March, and Janus, Roman god of beginnings, endings and time, would presumably have smiled on both faces when a recommended offer was finally announced on 31 July. Both faces because, under the all-share deal valuing Picton at approximately £404 million, Picton shareholders will receive shares in both LondonMetric and SREIT.

LondonMetric and SREIT have agreed to separate Picton’s assets based on which of Picton’s existing debt facilities they are subject to (Canada Life to LondonMetric and Aviva and NatWest to SREIT). Following completion, the assets allocated to LondonMetric will be carved out and transferred to it and, in return, it will transfer its shares in Picton to SREIT (such that Picton will then be wholly owned by SREIT). The result being that if a Picton shareholder continues to hold its consideration shares it will have shares in LondonMetric, which will hold part of the Picton assets and shares in the enlarged SREIT / Picton group. No wonder talks took some time. But is it a merger, a demerger or two mergers? To make it seem even more like a version of the three-cup trick, LondonMetric currently holds 11.1% of SREIT (reducing to 5.7% post-completion) and has agreed not to divest this stake for at least six months post-completion (presumably providing some additional price stability post-transaction). Make sure you watch the ball!

Bidders becoming Braver (Bisons) as well?

Is the resolve of target boards causing bidders to become braver, in particular those with existing substantial shareholdings?

The media and marketing partner, Brave Bison Group plc, lived up to its name and announced a hostile cash and share offer for System1 Group plc on 30 July. The offer values System1 at approximately £43 million, with an increased cash element as compared with its previously rejected indicative proposal.

The offer comes on the back of Glenstone REIT plc’s hostile offer for Alternative Income REIT plc last month. Brave Bison is System1’s largest shareholder at 28% (just as Glenstone is at Alternative Income with 24%). The 28% stake was acquired earlier...

Gibson Dunn

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