Business and Economics

EU investors snap up British firms suffering from a ‘Brexit discount’

Investors are snapping up British firms for bargain basement prices thanks to a ‘Brexit discount’ that is shrouding the economy.

According to FT reports, French buyers got their hands on a slew of British assets on Wednesday, from a slice of the UK’s biggest telecoms group to a buyout of one of the country’s oldest technology companies.

The surge in investment is a result of three things; high inflation, low investment confidence and a weaker currency.

Yesterday it was revealed that the Treasury is refusing to release an economic forecast alongside Friday’s so-called fiscal event, in which Kwasi Kwarteng is set to unveil Liz Truss’s plans for vast tax cuts and details of the energy price cap, aimed at tackling the cost-of-living crisis and boosting growth.

According to the Conservative chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee, Mel Stride, the forecasts are a “vital indicator of the health of the nation’s finances and provide reassurance and confidence to international markets and investors”.

Stride, who backed Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party leadership race, said the economic outlook had deteriorated since the OBR’s last forecast in March.

Related: Bank of England set to unveil biggest hike in interest rates for over three decades

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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Tags: Brexit