Europe's mergers and acquisitions bankers are counting on a private equity bid for UK retailer J Sainsbury to rouse Europe's M&A market from its slumber and enable them to meet their record revenue targets.

With big European cross-border M&A deals foundering on regulatory uncertainty and political wranglings, such as the year-long $60bn (€46bn) battle for Spanish power company Endesa, the UK is bucking the trend with its strongest start to the year since the peak of the last boom.