Pharmatech M&A activity presents opportunity for UK entrepreneurs

This week's Expert View piece is provided by managing partner Paul-Noël Guély and partner Varun Sunderraman, from London-based Arma Partners, an independent M&A advisory firm focused exclusively on the communications, media and technology sectors.

The global life sciences and pharmaceuticals sector is undergoing a wave of strategic M&A activity, as incumbents make acquisitions to enhance the technological capabilities they need to keep pace with the evolution of the industry.

Pharma is not unique in this respect. A similar process is taking place in essentially every other industry and is a result of technology having evolved from a discrete, standalone sector into something that cuts across financial services, manufacturing, logistics, retail, energy, and any other vertical you can think of. The convergence of technology with each of these industries has turned the likes of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook into a major potential disruptive threat to the current incumbents.