Number deals being done lifts as some firms recover confidence

The first quarter of the year has seen the number of construction M&A deals almost double as some firms recover confidence.

Research from Grant Thornton showed that there were 28 deals done in the first quarter of 2011, compared with 15 in the final three months of 2010.

The value of these deals shot up from £161m to £2.01bn, although the bulk of this latter figure was accounted for by the mammoth £1.6bn merger between Lafarge Cement UK and Anglo American.

Even discounting this deal, the rise in M&A value has more than doubled, the research said.

Rupert Rawcliffe, corporate finance director at Grant Thornton, said: “We are seeing a lift in the number of deals being done.”

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