“Everything in the UK is on sale” – this is the view of Blair Jacobson, co-head of European credit at Ares Management. This is due to the declining value of sterling in comparison to the strength of the US dollar. In the last few years, US private equity groups have snapped up plenty of large UK companies, including Wm Morrison, G4S and Bourne Leisure (which run Haven holiday parks).

Activity has slumped since the economic outlook has worsened and interest rates have risen making it more expensive to borrow money for deals, especially when it comes to financing for large deals. However, it seems that private equity dealmaking will be first to recover with M&A’s coming from private-equity driven funds as opposed to corporate-driven funds.

Dealmaking is likely to involve listed companies being taken private which many PE firms have benefitted from over the years. Listed real estate investment trusts in Europe have been subject to the same treatment. Higher inflation has made it more costly to construct new properties, making cut-price portfolios of buildings more attractive.