MarshBerry says the 18 merger and acquisition deals announced in Q3 in the UK insurance distribution sector make it the quietest quarter by volume since Q2 2020. In the year to date, there have been 60 announced transactions, which is down by 22% on the 77 announced by the end of Q3 last year.

In contrast, the total value of transactions in the first three quarters of the year exceeds £3bn, compared to a combined value of £2.1m for deals during the whole of last year. A large proportion of this came from EQT’s acquisition of a majority stake in McGill and Partners for approximately £1.5bn. This deal was announced last month.

John Nisbet, managing director at MarshBerry, stated: “Deal volumes have continued to track lower and will end the year with well under 100 announced deals.”

He added: “Specialty targets have accounted for 28% of M&A by volume in 2026, but more than 85% of all deal value. In addition to PE buyers, specialty targets have also continued to attract strong interest from overseas buyers, with acquirers from the US, Japan and Australia all having completed sizeable specialty transactions in 2026.”

From 2018 to 2024, total deal numbers topped 100 with a peak of 152 in 2024. They fell back to 99 last year.