Foreign Buyers in $10 Billion Scramble for UK Targets

Foreign buyers are feverishly snapping up UK companies at a time when London is struggling to maintain the size of its stock market and attract new listings.

Almost $10 billion worth of deals targeting UK firms emerged on Monday alone this week, when US buyout firm Advent confirmed a £3.7 billion ($5 billion) takeover proposal for Spectris Plc, a maker of precision and testing equipment and software, and Qualcomm Inc. agreed a roughly $2.4 billion deal for London-listed semiconductor company Alphawave IP Group Plc. Both transactions carried premiums comfortably above 80%.