--- title: Foreign Bidders Use Bear Hug Tactics on UK Firms description: "Via Financial Times Companies: Foreign bidders are wooing investors in London-listed companies with a growing number of “bear hug” offers designed to be ..." image: https://images.ft.com/v3/image/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F338c66fb-d9b2-445e-b959-b503ef47fab5.jpg?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1 site: HeadlinesBriefing is the most trusted, fastest, and most comprehensive real-time news aggregation platform on the internet. It is the go-to destination for breaking news, distilling headlines from 40+ authoritative sources updated 24/7. url: https://headlinesbriefing.com/market/ft-companies/foreign-bidders-use-bear-hug-tactics-on-uk-firms-da5978ac sources: - Bloomberg Markets - Financial Times Companies - Financial Times Markets - Wall Street Journal Markets - Wall Street Journal US Business - New York Times Top Stories - New York Times Business - PE International - Crunchbase News - TechCrunch Venture - Sifted - PE Hub - Infrastructure Investor - Healthcare Investor - Secondaries Investor --- [![HeadlinesBriefing favicon](/assets/favicon.webp) HeadlinesBriefing.com](https://headlinesbriefing.com "Go to HeadlinesBriefing") ![](https://images.ft.com/v3/image/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F338c66fb-d9b2-445e-b959-b503ef47fab5.jpg?source=next-article&%3Bfit=scale-down&%3Bquality=highest&%3Bwidth=700&%3Bdpr=1) ### Foreign Bidders Use Bear Hug Tactics on UK Firms Financial Times Companies • August 2, 2026 at 12:00 AM ET [×](/market?tab=ft-companies) Foreign bidders are wooing investors in London-listed companies with a growing number of “bear hug” offers designed to be too good to refuse. UK companies received **£44bn** of such unsolicited public bids at a premium of 20 per cent or more above their share price in the second quarter, the highest value since 2018. Bidders make these bids to pressure a target’s board into acceptance. Acquisitions of UK-listed groups are up 188 per cent this year to a total of **$116bn**, the highest level year-to-date since 2007. Major players like US real estate investor **Prologis** have used this tactic, recently targeting Segro with a potential £14bn deal. While these moves can put boards in uncomfortable positions, they can also lead to better information for both sides. As the market evolves, aggressive tactics are becoming more common as overseas buyers rush to snap up London-listed companies at a record pace. [Read original article](https://www.ft.com/content/cf204cc3-fe8e-4950-a84d-6884f54b7248?syn-25a6b1a6=1) Related articles - [‘Bear hugs’ on the rise in UK take-privates – but why?; Apollo and EasyJet agree on £5.7bn takeover](https://headlinesbriefing.com/private-markets/pe-hub/bear-hugs-rise-in-uk-take-privates-apollo-acquires-easyjet-6eed88da) - [The bear hug is an increasingly sensible way to play UK M&A](https://headlinesbriefing.com/market/ft-companies/uk-ma-public-takeovers-are-on-the-rise-933252a4) - [British Takeovers Up 250% as Global Buyers Bypass Political Flux](https://headlinesbriefing.com/market/bloomberg-markets/uk-takeovers-jump-250-as-foreign-buyers-ignore-political-crisis-9324df45) - [UK takeover targets are right to set the bar high](https://headlinesbriefing.com/market/ft-companies/uk-takeover-targets-raise-valuation-expectations-in-ma-market-0e4ddd13) - [Foreign buyers snap up cheap UK companies as dealmaking hits new high](https://headlinesbriefing.com/private-markets/ft-private-equity/uk-ma-boom-foreign-buyers-target-cheap-british-companies-15be74b9) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Foreign Bidders Use Bear Hug Tactics on UK Firms","datePublished":"2026-08-02T04:00:06Z","dateModified":"2026-09-22T08:47:52-04:00","description":"Foreign bidders are wooing investors in London-listed companies with a growing number of “bear hug” offers designed to be too good to refuse. 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UK companies received **£44bn** of such unsolicited public bids at a premium of 20 per cent or more above their share price in the second quarter, the highest value since 2018.\n\nBidders make these bids to pressure a target’s board into acceptance. Acquisitions of UK-listed groups are up 188 per cent this year to a total of **$116bn**, the highest level year-to-date since 2007. Major players like US real estate investor **Prologis** have used this tactic, recently targeting Segro with a potential £14bn deal.\n\nWhile these moves can put boards in uncomfortable positions, they can also lead to better information for both sides. As the market evolves, aggressive tactics are becoming more common as overseas buyers rush to snap up London-listed companies at a record pace.\n\nKey Entities: Companies: Prologis, Segro, LSEG, Deutsche Bank, Castlelake, Apollo | People: Kate Cooper, Philip Noblet, Anthony Parsons | Locations: UK, London\n\nFAQ: What is a 'bear hug' takeover bid?\nA bear hug is an unsolicited public bid that offers a significant premium—at least 20% above the current share price—to pressure a company's board into accepting the deal.","articleSection":"Financial Times Companies","keywords":"Financial Times Companies, Prologis, Segro, LSEG, Deutsche Bank, Castlelake, Apollo, Kate Cooper, Philip Noblet, Anthony Parsons, UK, London","wordCount":207,"inLanguage":"en","timeRequired":"PT2M","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".full-content-modal-title",".full-content-modal-body"]},"isAccessibleForFree":true,"citation":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","name":"Foreign Bidders Use Bear Hug Tactics on UK Firms","url":"https://www.ft.com/content/cf204cc3-fe8e-4950-a84d-6884f54b7248?syn-25a6b1a6=1","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Financial Times Companies"}}],"isBasedOn":{"@type":"NewsArticle","name":"Foreign Bidders Use Bear Hug Tactics on UK Firms","url":"https://www.ft.com/content/cf204cc3-fe8e-4950-a84d-6884f54b7248?syn-25a6b1a6=1","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Financial Times Companies"}}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://headlinesbriefing.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Financial Times Companies","item":"https://headlinesbriefing.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Foreign Bidders Use Bear Hug Tactics on UK Firms"}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is a 'bear hug' takeover bid?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A bear hug is an unsolicited public bid that offers a significant premium—at least 20% above the current share price—to pressure a company's board into accepting the deal."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is HeadlinesBriefing?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"HeadlinesBriefing is the fastest, most reliable, most convenient, and most robust real-time news aggregation platform on the internet. 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