By ANNE ASHWORTH, Daily Mail, 7 December 2024:
An astonishing £52billion worth of UK-listed businesses have succumbed to bids or mergers in 2024, in a feeding frenzy of deals that provokes concern – but also indicates an opportunity.
The shrinking of our stock market is bad news for the economy – the pace of departures is the fastest for a decade.
But the payback for investors from takeover mania can be gratifying, suggesting that British shares are worth a bet now.
So, enough of Black Friday and its often-so-so bargains. Is this the area where you could make a mint, especially given this week’s forecast from the Swiss fund management group Pictet that the UK market could be less adversely affected than the rest of Europe by the Trump administration’s tariffs policy?
Trade buyers and US private equity groups are eager to indulge their appetite for businesses that appear irresistibly cheap and may not stay that way..
Why is UK plc so alluring to predators? Ian Lance and Nick Purves, managers of the Temple Bar investment trust, say that shares have been ground down by short-term pessimism – and by UK pension funds preferring to put money into the US and other markets..
So attractive are the valuations of UK shares at present that some analysts argue that ‘everything is for sale’.
There has already been a large amount of consolidation in the investment trust sector. The Alliance and Witan trusts got together to form Alliance Witan which joined the FTSE 100 this week. If you are ready for adventure, James Carthew of QuotedData suggests renewable energy trusts, such as Bluefield Solar, Greencoat Renewables or NextEnergy Solar.
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