BDO advises on £2.5 billion+ worth of deals across regions n 2025

During 2025, across both regions, BDO’s M & A, transaction services and tax teams advised on 37 buy-side and 24 sell-side deals. More than two-fifths of all transactions (26 deals) involved private equity, with a further 23 deals involving privately-owned corporate/trade parties and 12 deals involved publicly-listed companies. Deal activity spanned seven sectors, including industrials, technology, consumer, life sciences & healthcare, transport & logistics, financial services and real estate.

Vinny Patel, partner at the accountancy and business advisory firm, said: “Despite economic headwinds and uncertainty becoming the new norm, Midlands and East of England businesses have continued to successfully navigate these challenges to realise their ambitions.

“What’s more, the recent Autumn Budget has had no material impact on deal activity in the Midlands and East of England, which is of little surprise given that the Chancellor’s changes were long trailed in the press.

“Current activity levels are high, with pitch opportunities across the team at record levels in recent months. This points to a very busy 2026, as we realise pipeline potential.”

Standout BDO deals across the regions in 2025 included: advising Colpac Limited on its sale to Sabert Corporation; acting for March Group on its acquisition of Cobra Engineering; advising Saltus Financial Planning on its acquisition of Delta Financial Management; as well as advising on the sale of Tumeric & Co to AG Barr plc.

John Stephan, partner at BDO added: “In terms of key growth areas in 2026, this includes life sciences and healthcare, as well as niche industrials, tech-enabled services and ‘buy and build’ platforms. These will continue to be active, particularly building products, professional services, business and support services. This is because there is a plethora of well capitalised platforms that are looking to scale and accrete value through multiple arbitrage along the way.”

In light of the future pipeline, BDO continues to invest in its deal advisory proposition across the Midlands and East of England, with a 50+ strong team across M&A, transaction services and tax and ongoing recruitment planned through 2026.