Burberry tops list of UK M&A targets in new Bloomberg survey
London-listed stocks account for about 60% of companies mentioned in an informal survey conducted by Bloomberg News in July. The poll included 44 risk-arbitrage desks, traders, and analysts. Burberry, the iconic trench coat maker, was the most frequently cited company, selected seven times.
UK stocks have remained favored M&A targets over the past year, partly due to their relative undervaluation compared to international peers. This has led to a series of delistings that have further reduced the size of the local stock market. London's FTSE 100 Index trades about 13% below the Euro Stoxx 50 Index and 41% below the S&P 500, based on valuation relative to earnings forecasts.
In Burberry's case, there are signs that the brand is beginning to deliver on its turnaround plan under Chief Executive Officer Joshua Schulman. After back-to-back annual declines of 30%, the stock has risen 32% in 2025.
According to Emmanuel Valavanis, an equity sales specialist at Forte Securities in London, Burberry's brand equity could be attractive to a larger luxury group 'not afraid to pay up for bolt-on growth and an iconic label.'
However, the transformation is not yet complete. 'Burberry's renewal effort still needs more work,' said Graham Simpson of Canaccord Genuity Quest, adding that a potential suitor would likely focus on extracting synergies.
BP Plc and Anglo American Plc also featured among the leading UK takeover candidates, consistent with their inclusion in a similar January survey. Rightmove Plc, the online property portal, received four mentions after drawing multiple bids last year from Rupert Murdoch's REA Group.
UK dealmaking 'roared back' in the second quarter, said Patrick Sarch, head of UK public M&A at law firm White & Case LLP, in July.
'We anticipate more bids for UK companies from US and corporate bidders, and that the financial services, infrastructure, natural resources, and tech sectors will continue to be active,' Sarch added.
Outside the UK, the recent trade agreement between the European Union and the United States is expected to 'encourage corporates to go ahead with planned transactions,' according to Eric Meyer, head of RBC Capital Markets in Paris.
Among continental names, Carrefour SA was a frequently mentioned target, cited four times by respondents. The supermarket chain is currently reviewing its portfolio to improve its valuation and recently divested its struggling Italian business.
European banking M&A also remains active, continuing a trend from 2024. Commerzbank AG was again a popular name in the latest survey. UniCredit SpA, which has expressed interest in acquiring Commerzbank, increased its stake to about 20% this month. The move makes UniCredit the bank's largest shareholder, overtaking the German government, which remains opposed to a takeover.
'Bank deals are becoming more complicated,' said Nicolas Marmurek, co-head of special situations at Square Global Markets. 'Successful bidders will need strategy, timing, and just the right dose of political finesse.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fashion Network
5 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Zalando's Q2 GMV and revenue rise, e-tailer ups guidance after About You buy
That was helped by continued investment in customer experience and it expects this week's launch of its AI-driven discovery feed that it says will 'deliver even more personalised inspiration and boost organic customer engagement' to help it further in Q3. B2C growth in the second quarter was also supported by strong progress in its two other growth pillars, which are 'differentiation through quality and lifestyle expansion'. Its upgraded loyalty programme reached more than 10 million customers at the end of the quarter as it rolled out to more markets. It also delivered 'over proportional growth' in its Lounge, Designer, and Beauty propositions, 'making progress on building out more areas that address more lifestyle needs of customers, thus enabling Zalando to capture a higher share of customers' wallets'. Meanwhile Business-to-Business (B2B) maintained 'strong momentum, driven by double-digit growth in ZEOS Fulfilment'. The launch of a new Shopify application that connects Shopify merchants directly to the ZEOS platform was also key. B2B revenues increased 12.2% to €262 million. Adjusted EBIT was €11 million, with the margin increasing by 1.3 percentage points to 4.3%. And there's plenty of potential for this to rise. UK retailer Next is now leveraging Zalando's fulfilment infrastructure for its largest mainland Europe market, Germany, after already using ZFS for the majority of its Zalando-based business. In the second half, it will expand the collaboration to include its own webshop and additional European marketplace business. Finally, following the About You acquisition in July, the company has issued its first full-year 2025 guidance for the combined group. It expects annual GMV of €17.2 billion-€17.6 billion, revenue of €12.1 billion-€12.4 billion, and adjusted EBIT of €550 million-€600 million. Forecast GMV volumes up by 12%-15% will be a big step forward from the previously expected range of 4%-9%.
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
US trade gap shrinks on imports retreat as tariffs fuel worries
The overall trade deficit in the world's biggest economy narrowed by 16 percent to $60.2 billion, down from a revised $71.7 billion figure in May, the Department of Commerce said. The narrowing was more than analysts expected but largely reflected a drop in goods imports -- including consumer goods as Trump's wide-ranging tariffs added to businesses' costs of bringing in foreign products. In April, Trump imposed a 10-percent duty on most US trading partners and he has also slapped much steeper tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos. This baseline tariff is set to rise to varying levels for dozens of economies including Japan and the European Union come Thursday. Given that plans have been set out for higher rates to take effect, policy uncertainty has eased somewhat, said Nationwide financial markets economist Oren Klachkin. "But businesses hoping tariffs were just threats must now adjust to the reality they are here to stay," he added in a note. "We think the negative impact of high tariff rates will outweigh any positives from lower policy uncertainty," Klachkin said. The June deficit narrowed on the back of a fall in imports, by 3.7 percent to $337.5 billion, while exports also dropped by 0.5 percent to $277.3 billion. The drop in imports came as those of consumer goods decreased $8.4 billion, while those of industrial supplies and materials fell by $2.7 billion. Imports of autos and parts also dropped by $1.3 billion. The retreat in exports, meanwhile, came as goods exports declined by $1.3 billion, with decreases seen in industrial supplies as well. The goods deficit with China dropped by $4.6 billion, to $9.4 billion in June. Washington and Beijing slapped escalating tariffs on each other's products in April, reaching prohibitive triple-digit levels and snarling supply lines between the world's two biggest economies. But in May, the countries reached a temporary agreement to bring these duties to a lower level until August 12.
LeMonde
6 hours ago
- LeMonde
European Commission hopes to finalize EU-US trade deal soon
Talks between European and American officials have not broken down. The deal reached by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump opened a new phase of discussions, which is expected to lead to the publication of a joint statement. Although not legally binding, the document is expected to outline the terms of the informal agreement that the two leaders reached at the Turnberry golf resort, which is owned by the US president and located on Scotland's west coast, on July 27. "The text is practically ready; we are now waiting for our American counterparts to get back to us to confirm the final details," said a senior European official. As he put it, "It takes two to tango." Nevertheless, Trump has already begun to implement his side of the deal by signing, on July 31, an executive order establishing the new tariff regime, including 15% tariffs on imports from the European Union. However, this executive order, set to take effect on August 7, will not resolve all outstanding issues. It only applies to "reciprocal" tariffs, which exclude cars and car parts. Therefore, the automotive industry remains subject to export taxes of 27.5% when shipping to the United States. "We expect a change to happen very soon," said the aforementioned official.
