Cross-border deals by UK companies at 10-year high

Cross-border takeover activity has seen the biggest rebalancing towards UK buyers for a decade, despite the uncertain economic backdrop.

The value of takeover deals involving UK companies is up almost a fifth in 2010, to $231bn, over the previous year, according to statistics released by the law firm Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer.

Of that, UK companies paid almost $88bn in a series of cross border deals, the highest level for the past 10 years. Half was directed at US companies. Other popular destinations included India, where $7.6bn was spent.

The head of Freshfields' UK corporate practice, Mark Rawlinson, said the third quarter of 2011 could see an "uptick" in takeovers, although he added that no one expected a return to "the record levels we witnessed in the middle part of the past decade any time soon."