The number of M&A deals for UK companies has jumped 54 percent in the past year, from 1,243 in 2019/20 to 1,911 in 2020/21 as the acquisition market for British businesses booms, according to new research from UK private wealth law firm Forsters.

Over the same period, the value of M&A deals for UK companies has almost doubled from £146 billion in 2019/20 to £289bn in 2020/21 (see graph below).

Despite the pandemic, the UK M&A market in the UK has been very busy over the last 12 months, with deals made for household names including supermarket group Morrisons, insurer RSA and outsourcer G4S.

Howev...