The second half of 2009 saw an improvement in global M&A activity, according to research by mergermarket.
The second half of 2009 saw an improvement in global M&A activity, according to research by mergermarket.
The worldwide study found that there were 2,523 deals valued at $626.8 billion (£388.7 billion) in the last quarter of the year, a 35 per cent increase on the same period in 2008.
European M&A suffered in 2009, reporting 3,485 transactions valued at $472.8 billion, a decrease of 55 per cent by value and 36 per cent by volume. However, the private equity buy-out market saw a gradual improvement, with the third and fourth quarter posting 33 per cent and 108 per cent year-on-year rises to $9.6 billion and $19.9 billion.
The financial services and energy sectors accounted for half the total value of European deals in 2009, up from 44 per cent in 2008. In addition, the UK and Ireland continue to lead the way, contributing 28 per cent to the total value of deals.
The US M&A market followed a similar trend, with deal activity picking up steadily throughout the year, ending in the last quarter reporting 831 deals with a value of $221.7 billion. Despite the gradual build-up of activity, the total deal volume for the year was still 26 per cent lower than in 2008.
Although volumes in the US were considerably down on the previous year, total deal values fell by only 7 per cent, as a result of a few multi-billion dollar deals. Highlights include the $63.3 billion takeover of pharmaceutical giant Wyeth by Pfizer and XTO Energy’s $40.4 billion acquisition of ExxonMobil.
While the rest of the world saw a yearly decline in M&A, the Asia Pacific region had a 5 per cent increase in total transaction value to $421.4 billion.
