Portfolio Update May 2014 - M&A Activity Driving Gains

After a lacklustre Q1 there has been a recent surge in the market, which seemingly has been led by a few of my holdings that have benefited from positive M&A activity.

AstraZeneca shares have risen strongly (up around 24% in 2/3 weeks) on the back of takeover bids from the US company Pfizer, who are probably looking to take advantage of the UK's generous tax rates by headquartering their business on British soil. I may look at offloading some of these holdings if the share price is pushed much higher.

Also GlaxoSmithKline have hit the headlines because of a proposed deal with Swiss firm Novartis, in which they would swap assets with a view to streamlining both businesses. This has also been received favourably by the market with Glaxo shares rising around 7% in the last few weeks.

Lloyds Banking group are doing okay too, having risen around 10% over the same 2-3 week period on the back of news of offloading TSB branches.

As these 3 companies comprise a substantial part of my portfolio, things are boding well for a Q2 out-performance.

There has also been some positive news flow from Terrace Hill Group who are planning a reverse takeover of Urban&Civic holdings. Terrace hill shares are up almost 20% since the deal was announced.