M&A activity was on the rise at the end of 2010

The value of mergers and acquisitions in the UK reached £3.8 billion in the final quarter of 2010 - its highest value in nearly two years.

The figure - which saw a staggering rise from the £3 billion record for the third quarter of 2010 - took the total value of M&A transactions in 2010 to £10.1 billion. While this total was down significantly on the £12.2 billion total recorded for 2009, the rise in the final quarter has left industry insiders believing that businesses are regaining their confidence in expanding through acquisitions - confidence that took a major knock during the recession.

In all in 2010, there were 61 takeovers of companies that had registered annual turnovers of more than £1 million.

The figures for British businesses making investments in foreign companies were a reversed reflection of the figures for the deals within the UK, with the quarter four figure falling to £3.5 billion from £5.3 billion in quarter three, but the annual total increasing to £12.2 billion from £10.1 billion in 2009.

The figures follow last month's M&A predictions from financial services firm KPMG, that the technology sector is likely to see a lot of activity in 2011, due to increasing confidence in their returns for investors.

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