Most owners sell a business once. More often than not, the buyer is a company that buys regularly, and it is likely to know the process better than you do. That is worth knowing at the outset, because it shapes how a negotiation runs.
We looked at the 10,426 UK companies, large enough to file full or medium-sized accounts, that passed into the control of another trading company between 2019 and 2025. Of those, 57% went to a buyer the register shows making more than one acquisition, 26% to one with five or more, and 12% to one with ten or more. Private equity buys differently, so we leave it out here and cover it separately.
Show the figures
| Buyer has bought | Companies | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Only once | 4,530 | 43.4% |
| 2–4 times | 3,154 | 30.3% |
| 5–9 times | 1,495 | 14.3% |
| 10 times or more | 1,247 | 12.0% |
Some sectors are consolidating faster than others
In education, health and social care and utilities, about three companies in four went to a repeat buyer. Much of the consolidation in these sectors has been done by the same groups buying again and again. Manufacturing is at the other end, at 44%, with transport and logistics and retail and wholesale not far above it.
Show the figures
| Sector | Companies | To a repeat buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Education | 289 | 78% |
| Health and social care | 682 | 74% |
| Utilities | 347 | 72% |
| Real estate | 574 | 68% |
| Water and waste | 129 | 63% |
| Other services | 505 | 58% |
| Information and communication | 1,254 | 58% |
| Professional services | 1,742 | 57% |
| Business support | 1,123 | 56% |
| Construction | 618 | 53% |
| Hospitality | 324 | 52% |
| Retail and wholesale | 1,102 | 50% |
| Transport and logistics | 294 | 46% |
| Manufacturing | 1,299 | 44% |
Larger businesses, fewer serial buyers
The pattern is weaker among larger companies. At £10–25M of turnover, 33% of companies sold went to a repeat buyer, and the same at £25–100M, against 48% below £10M.
Treat the exact figures with care. Many companies stop publishing turnover once they join a group, so we know it for only 2,898 of the 10,426. The direction may simply reflect the most frequent buyers tending to buy smaller businesses, but our data can’t confirm that.
What it means for an owner
A repeat buyer is likely to be well prepared. If you haven’t sold a business before, that is a disadvantage unless you are well advised. The answer is not to avoid these buyers. It is to meet them equally ready, with the figures in order, the likely questions anticipated, and a clear view of what the business is worth.
Serial acquirers can be found. Their past purchases are on the public record. Well before a sale, you can see which groups have been buying businesses like yours, at what size, and how recently, and approach them as part of a properly run process rather than wait to be approached.
How we worked this out
Figures are from Companies House as at 27th September 2026, chiefly the register of people with significant control. We looked at UK companies filing full, medium-sized or group accounts, and at changes of control between 2019 and 2025. A trade takeover is one where a trading company took majority control. Private equity deals, holding companies and newly formed companies are excluded.
Acquisitions by each buyer are counted from mid-2016 to the present, among companies of this size, with a group bought at once counted as one. Because we count later purchases too, a buyer counts as a repeat buyer even if it bought again after your sale. A buyer seen making only one purchase may also have bought smaller companies, so the true share of repeat buyers is probably higher than shown. For the same reason the 2025 figure is lower (49%, against 55–60% in each earlier year), since some of that year’s buyers have not yet bought again.
Turnover is from each company’s latest accounts. Sectors with fewer than 100 companies are not shown. No figure here identifies a company or a person.