Extra time! City bankers rake in £2bn fees in big UK takeover year – and George Osborne rakes in too

Bankers are bracing for a £2bn fee bonanza after a year of frenetic takeover activity.

The value of mergers and acquisitions involving British companies has risen 36 per cent this year to £250 billion, according to data from Dealogic.

And fees earned by investment bankers working on deals have risen 19 per cent to £2.1bn, the highest level since 2021.

Accountants, lawyers and other advisers will also reap huge payouts following a wave of acquisitions.

Among the biggest deals this year are private equity giant CVC’s £5.4bn purchase of Hargreaves Lansdown, the £3.3bn sale of Britvic to Carlsberg and the £2.9bn purchase of Virgin Money by from Nationwide.

Others include Aviva’s £3.7bn acquisition of Direct Line, although mining giant BHP failed in its £39bn bid for Anglo American.

Advisors typically share fees of between 1 and 5 percent of the acquisition value, with bankers taking the lion’s share.

Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell, said a bumper year will be “music to the ears of investment bankers” and other advisers.

Among those hitting the jackpot were advisers working on the £3.6bn takeover of Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services (IDS) by billionaire tycoon Daniel Kretinsky.

Deal documents reveal bankers, lawyers and others will share £146 million, 4 per cent of the price. Among those cashing in is former Labor leader Chuka Umunna, who now works for JP Morgan and advises Kretinsky.

George Osborne is another former politician who benefited from the acquisition frenzy.

The former chancellor now works for boutique investment bank Robey Warshaw and was one of four partners who shared a £70m payday this year.

Robey is advising Direct Line on its deal with Aviva, having previously defended it against a takeover by Belgian group Ageas this year.

The investment bank, where Osborne has worked since 2021, also advised the video game company Keyword Studios when it was bought by the private equity group EQT for £2 billion.

Also in the money are bankers at Goldman Sachs, which advised on more acquisitions of UK companies than any other bank in the first nine months of the year, according to LSEG.

Lucille Jones, senior manager at LSEG, said the increase in activity has been “driven by mega deals as foreign buyers and private equity took action”.

Coatsworth said: ‘There has been a lot of action in the large and mid-cap space – music to the ears of bankers and legal advisers if they are charging a fee based on the size of the deal. The UK is for sale.