Why there’s ‘cause for optimism’ among Scotland’s deal makers in 2026
“The backdrop remains unpredictable, with geopolitical uncertainty and evolving investor priorities” – Craig Goold, BDO
There is “cause for optimism” in Scotland’s deals market, experts have said, despite a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and evolving investor priorities.
Craig Goold, head of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at BDO Scotland, said the deals market had gathered pace in the second half of 2025, as he revealed that the firm’s deal advisory team had worked on 46 completed deals during the course of the year, with a combined enterprise value of £1.5 billion.
“While private equity continues to drive momentum and investment activity, we have continued to work with a number of corporates on both buy and sell-side, with an uplift in companies pursuing bolt-on acquisitions to create value and drive growth,” Goold said.
“The backdrop remains unpredictable, with geopolitical uncertainty and evolving investor priorities. However, going into 2026, our current activity levels are high and there’s cause for optimism on the back of strong activity in Scotland making it one of BDO’s standout markets in 2025.”
Notable deals in 2025 included supporting Optima Partners as part of Growth Capital Partners’ investment, supporting Astrak Group on the acquisitions of TKV Group and West-Trak NZ, acting for Frasers Group on its acquisition of Braehead Shopping Centre, and supporting March and EMK Capital on the acquisition of Cobra Engineering.
Adam Broatch, transaction services partner at BDO, said: “Despite a challenging M&A market we have seen a 29 per cent increase in the number of completed transactions that the BDO Scotland deal advisory team have been involved in.
“Reflecting our commitment to Scotland, we have continued to invest in our team by adding nine people and awarding 20 promotions across deal advisory. As a global firm with a strong Scottish presence, we’re well placed to support investors, buyers and vendors across the spectrum.”
Across the year, almost two thirds of the transactions (29) had private equity involvement, an increase of more than 30 per cent on the prior year, with a further 17 deals involving privately owned corporate/trade parties or publicly listed companies.
Deal activity spanned a wide range of sectors, with the majority of completed deals centred around tech, property, industrial products and manufacturing, support services and healthcare.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.