Permira, Bridgepoint said to weigh £500 million bids for Big Bus Tours

Wow - the UK M&A market has suddenly roared back into life. And to think last Thursday I was on Tip TV noting how quiet it was in the British dealmaking scene for this time of year.

A few days later it emerged insurance giant Aviva is in advanced talks to buy Friends Life for over £5 billion (multiple hat tips to Kleinman of Sky News, Neil Hume at the Financial Times and Geoff Foster over at the Daily Mail for smoking out this deal). BT, meanwhile, announced this morning that it is looking at purchasing either O2 or EE. I guess that will probably be the last time I ever say it is "quiet" in UK M&A (yes, I realise I have used this joke twice in the last fortnight).