One of the predictions I made recently for 2026 was that I expected the rapid pace of takeovers in the UK market to continue. There is no doubt that takeovers and consolidations have been shrinking the number of UK-listed stocks at quite a pace over the last few years (although delistings also play a part in this):
[Chart: Statista]
Many stocks on the UK market seem cheap at the moment. Almost continuous outflows from UK Equity Funds mean that institutions have been net sellers, whatever they think of the valuation or outlook for their holdings. In these times, even surprise good news gets sold into:
[Chart: Calastone]
It would be naïve to think that these outflows will suddenly reverse because we are into a new year, so identifying catalysts for re-valuation may be one of the keys to strong returns in 2026. Finding the type of companies that may be more likely to receive takeover offers is one way to accelerate price discovery. This is the task that Alex and I have set ourselves.
Obtaining a list of takeover offers over time is actually quite challenging. While the takeover panel publishes a list of current active offers, there is no historical record. Looking through all past announcements for all UK stocks is a task so onerous that even ChatGPT tells me to get lost. However, at Stockopedia, we have a resource others may not have. On the DSMR, we report on the material news for all companies each day, and we flag potential takeovers as PINK. Combining Alex’s analytic skills with some donkey work from me, we have been able to examine what types of companies have received takeover offers in the past. We are not claiming our data is totally exhaustive, but by using the DSMR, we will have captured the majority of the offers that have been announced over the last few years:
The number of offers we found actually dropped slightly in 2025 compared to the boom year of 2024. However, there were around 10% fewer listed companies at the start of 2025, meaning that takeover activity as a proportion of companies has been consistently high.
Over the next few weeks, Alex and I will be…
