Over the past few years, the world has faced ongoing geopolitical uncertainty in the wake of Brexit, the US-China trade war and the global economic slowdown. Events like these increase risks for businesses, usually resulting in organisations putting major investments and decisions on hold until certainty returns to the market.

Trade players accounted for 95% of mid-market business services deals in the half year to 30 June 2019. Horizontal integration of companies is a common theme as trade buyers seek to enter new geographical or ancillary markets through acquiring an established market share rather than through pursuing organic strategies.