Law firm Burges Salmon has reported strong corporate activity despite a challenging M&A environment, completing more than 65 transactions since January 2025 with a combined deal value of around £3bn.
The firm, headquartered in Bristol with offices in Edinburgh and London, advised across multiple sectors including financial services, technology, healthcare, real estate, and human capital. Private equity deals alone accounted for over £300m of activity.
Nick Graves, partner and head of Corporate at Burges Salmon, said: “Despite continued uncertainty and a tough year for M&A activity, we’re proud of our standout mandates across technology, defence, food and drink, sustainable infrastructure and clean energy, and of the complex cross‑border work we’ve implemented alongside our global preferred firm network. We’re optimistic that deal flow will rebound as we move into the first half of 2026.”
Notable deals in 2025 include advising the Ultima group on its £1bn merger with Trustmarque, creating one of the UK’s largest IT services providers employing over 1,000 staff. The firm’s Defence M&A team advised on the merger of UK cyber innovator Amiosec Ltd with Australian digital defence specialist Penten Pty Ltd, forming PentenAmio, a major global team for secure mobile communications and AI-enabled defence.
In the food and drink sector, Burges Salmon supported Yeo Valley, the UK’s largest organic food brand, on its acquisition of The Collective, and acted for food procurement specialist allmanhall on its strategic partnership with Buyers Edge Platform. In corporate real estate, the firm advised Tritax Big Box REIT on the £74.25m acquisition of a Sainsbury’s distribution centre.
Sustainable infrastructure also featured heavily, with Burges Salmon advising waste management firm CIRQLR on all eight of its acquisitions, transforming it into a £150m turnover business handling 600,000 tonnes of materials across 19 recycling facilities. The team facilitated FirstGroup plc’s strategic investment in Palmer Energy Technology and Oxford University spin-out Brill Power.
The firm’s clean energy work contributed to its ranking as the second most active law firm in Clean Energy Pipeline’s 2025 Legal League Tables, including projects for European Energy, Asper Investment Management, Craydel Group, and Enray Power.
Much of Burges Salmon’s work continues to have an international dimension, collaborating with its global preferred firm network across 33 jurisdictions, including continental Europe, the USA, Hong Kong, China, New Zealand, and the Cayman Islands.
