EMC’s Regional Corporate Finance Update | June 2026

Ryan Smith | July 7, 2026

June 2026

Welcome to our corporate finance review for June 2026. Deal volumes continue to follow the steady path seen throughout 2026 so far, with 83 reported this month across the South-East.

Following the resignation of Kier Starmer, the race for PM is now on with Andy Burnham emerging as the clear front runner. With Burnham’s relatively quick ascendance we do not yet have a clear view on his tax intentions but the move has brought Capital Gains Tax (CGT) firmly back into the spotlight. Initial indications are that Burnham will keep to Labour’s “tax lock” pledge to not touch income tax, VAT and National Insurance, but with many in the Labour Party calling for an alignment of Income Tax and CGT, this is now a very real issue for business owners. Timelines remain unclear at present but we would expect the rumour mill for CGT rises to pick up quickly. Once we have a Budget date we could see a similar acceleration of deals to what we saw in October 2024 above.

Before Starmer’s official exit we have seen the publishing of the much-delayed defence investment plan. The delays to publication have been frustrating for the manufacturing and defence sectors, and with a change of Prime Minister now taking place, it is also unclear whether the published paper is in fact final. Supply chains continue to be elongated with large corporate spending delays commonly being blamed on the uncertainty.

This month, the FT reported on the rapid influx of overseas M&A activity, with the value of UK deals by foreign buyers more than tripling the same period last year and reaching a two-decade high. We continue to receive constant inbound approaches for clients from across the globe including, in particular, the US and Northern Europe who we saw transact with EMC clients last year.

The US has continued to be a key acquirer for UK exits. This month saw Tate & Lyle agree to a £2.7bn takeover from US-based rival Ingredion and US publisher John Wiley & Sons announced their acquisition of Leeds-based Emerald Publishing Ltd for £337m.

Across the South-East, BRCK Group Plc has completed their 25^th acquisition since 2018 with the acquisition of H.S Jackson & Sons in a deal worth over £20m, a Kent-based designer and manufacturer of fencing and other timber and steel products.

Alongside other notable deals is Hickstead based Sweeptech‘s acquisition of the business and trading assets of Brooking Hire Ltd & Munihire Operations Ltd. The acquisitions further strengthen Sweeptech’s national Infrastructure Support capabilities.