Welcome to the twelfth edition of the North East: M&A Technology Sector Snapshot – a joint production from Ryecroft Glenton and Mercia Asset Management PLC.
Since inception we have published a snapshot each quarter to provide information on national themes in the UK tech sector, as well as focusing on developments closer to home, in the North-East.
The snapshot provides an insight into key industry trends, current market data, news, and an overview of recent transactions. In this issue, the deal round-up covers the three months from October 2023 to December 2023. We also take a closer look at some of the key themes for 2023 whilst considering what the sector might have in store for 2024.
The UK tech market continues to be very active with 683 deals recorded between October 2023 to December 2023, with approximately 24% relating to an acquisition or a sale, and circa 76% relating to a funding round. Business/Productivity Software was the most active tech sub-sector for M&A in Q4 23 and London continued to lead the way geographically, with 370 deals completed in the quarter.
While there were 683 deals recorded in Q4, it can be seen in the table below that overall, the total deals completed fell significantly in 2023 in comparison with 2022. We explore this in detail later in the report.
|
Quarter |
Total Deals (UK) |
Total deals (North East) |
Most active region of total deals |
North East share of deals |
Most active sector |
|
2023 |
2,742 |
40 |
London (1,417 deals) |
c.2% |
Business/Productivity Software (33%) |
|
Q4 – 23 |
683 |
11 |
London (370 deals) |
c.2% |
Business/Productivity Software (28.1%) |
|
Q3 – 23 |
613 |
6 |
London (323 deals) |
c.1% |
Business/Productivity Software (30.3%) |
|
Q2 – 23 |
678 |
12 |
London (364 deals) |
c.2% |
Business/Productivity Software (62.7%) |
|
Q1 – 23 |
768 |
11 |
London (360 deals) |
c.2% |
Business/Productivity Software (10.9%) |
|
Q4 – 22 |
725 |
6 |
London (366 deals) |
c.1% |
Business/Productivity Software (8.6%) |
|
2022 |
4,595 |
78 |
London (2,769 deals) |
c.2% |
Business/Productivity Software (18.6%) |
Source – MarketIQ
View our other North East: M&A Technology Sector Snapshots here.
