- OCS bid for Mitie values the UK support services group at £3.1 billion
- This is the eighth most valuable live or completed bid in the UK in 2026
- It is the eleventh deal with a price tag of at least £1 billion
- The 45% premium to the undisturbed share price compares well with other deals this year
“It may be summer, but deal makers are not taking it easy on the beach, as Mitie receives a £3.1 billion takeover approach from private-equity-backed peer OCS,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“That is the eighth-highest bid of 2026 so far and it is the eleventh proposed transaction in the UK this year with a price tag that exceeds £1 billion, while the 45% premium to the undisturbed share price compares well with the year-to-date average across 36 live or completed deals of 43%.
Source: Company accounts
“OCS’ swoop for Mitie is the latest in a series of merger and acquisition announcements this month, after bids for Rotork, Gooch & Housego and System1 and increased offers for SEGRO, EasyJet and pawnbroker Ramsdens. This year is on track to see the highest number of deals worth at least £1 billion since the Covid pandemic.
Source: Company accounts. *2026 as of 21 July and includes completed, live and putative transactions.
“As a result of this flurry of fresh deals, the total value of live or completed bids for UK-listed companies could come to £69.3 billion if they all complete as planned.
“That sum equates to 2.4% of the total combined stock market capitalisation of the FTSE All-Share and the AIM All-Share indices. It is also the highest figure for the UK market post-Covid.
Source: Company accounts. *2026 as of 21 July and includes completed, live and putative transactions.
“Meanwhile the average premium offered relative to the undisturbed share price by the bidders, for the 22 deals where the terms are public, comes to a meaty 43%.
Source: Company accounts. *2026 as of 21 July and includes completed, live and putative transactions.
“That figure also suggests there is still value to be had in UK equities, even as the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share benchmarks all trade within a whisker of their all-time highs, if predators feel they can pay such a premium and still achieve a return on investment over time which more than compensates them for the risks involved. Valuation is, after all, the ultimate arbiter of investment return, whether you own one share in a company or all of them.”
