South East M&A Barometer: Q1 2024 update

The South East M&A Barometer 2024: Q1 update

In Q1 2024 there were slightly more M&A transactions involving high growth companies compared to Q1 2023. We had hoped to see a greater uptick for the first quarter, but despite this not yet coming to fruition, optimism remains.

Read our South East M&A Barometer 2024: Q1 update.

Key findings

The key findings highlighted in the Q1 update are:

• Optimism remains for 2024, with expectations of increased M&A activity in the South East
• Global conflicts and key elections in the UK and US contribute to a cautious outlook
• Valuation discussions are causing some deals to take longer to execute
• Private equity deals are also under pressure to reflect current market sentiment.