By Olly Jackson, EMEA reporter

While Brexit is partly to blame for a 22% fall in UK M&A activity this year, there are troubling signs for the future that suggest this lull could continue beyond the next 12 months.

According to Mergermarket data, the UK M&A market remained relatively stable in the immediate aftermath of the referendum, defying many analysts’ expectations. This was largely fuelled by foreign investors’ desire to take advantage of the collapsing pound sterling, and buy companies and divisions at a time when the pound could not go that much lower. 

ONS statistics say the value of the UK M&A market reached £28.4 billion (approximately $37.8 billion) in three months after the result, higher than at any point since 2007. Since then, the pound has rallied against the dollar and, in this time, M&A has fallen both in value and volume to a point comparable to the...