More US buyers — and more buyer-friendly deal terms — are entering the seller-friendly UK market, although the picture is increasingly nuanced.

By Joshua M. Dubofsky, Sam Newhouse, Jennifer N. Cadet, and Catherine Campbell

Whilst global M&A deal volumes have dipped at the start of Q1 2023, UK-bound M&A activity is expected to be one of the year’s highlights as overseas buyers seek out attractively priced British public and private targets. Within this activity, the deal term preferences of US buyers are likely to impact private UK M&A. A detailed understanding of both UK and US expectations is therefore essential for transatlantic dealmakers.

US private M&A deal terms — particularly related to deal certainty and post-closing recourse — have historically been viewed as more buyer-friendly than those in the more seller-friendly UK market. However, the picture is increasingly nuanced, and deal teams navigating ongoing economic uncertainty and financial market dislocation are being called upon to find new solutions to deal valuation, certainty, and recourse concerns.