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Global cross-border M&A falls to lowest quarterly volume since Q1 2015

Cross-border dealmaking fell to 1349 deals in the third quarter of 2019. This is the lowest quarterly volume in over five years, since the 1342 deals recorded in Q1 2014.

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PMB sector set for highest annual total value on record

In the first three quarters of 2019, US$378.23 billion in deal value was agreed in the pharmaceutical, medical and biotechnology (PMB) sector. This is only 3.6% below the highest annual total on Mergermarket record, in 2015 (US$392.33 billion).

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Cross-border PE activity in the oil and gas sector hits highest annual total since 2011

Cross-border private equity activity in the oil and gas sector totaled US$20.27 billion in the first nine months of 2019, already the second highest total of any year of the past decade except for 2011, which registered US$37.73 billion in deal activity.

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Transportation PE value rises to second highest quarterly value of the decade

Private equity deal value in the transportation sector rose to U$19.28 billion in Q3 2019, a 179% rise on the previous quarter. This represents the second highest quarterly value in the past decade, below only the US$27.44 billion total recorded in Q3 2017.

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UK M&A volume falls to lowest quarterly total since Q2 2013

There were 285 M&A deals in the UK in the third quarter of 2019, the lowest total for any quarter since Q2 2013, during which 281 deals were recorded.

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Cross-border consumer M&A value rises year on year in 2019

US$94.97 billion in cross-border M&A value was agreed in the consumer sector in the first three quarters of 2019. Already, this is 6% above the total in the entirety of 2018.

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Canadian M&A surges to highest quarterly value since Q1 2017

Canadian M&A totaled US$31.67 billion in value in the third quarter of 2019, the highest for any quarter since Q1 2017, which registered US$38.71 billion in deal activity. High-profile deals include the US$8.5 billion investment in transportation company 407 International by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

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US overwhelmingly dominates value chart in Q2 2019

The US was not only the best-performing country in terms of total M&A value in Q2 2019, but overwhelmingly dominated the value chart. M&A involving US-based targets totaled US$494 billion, taking up 54% of global M&A in Q2—in contrast, the US took up 43% of global M&A across 2018.

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Internet/ecommerce subsector has best quarter on record by value

US$39.29 billion across 130 deals were recorded globally in the internet/e-commerce sector in Q2 2019, the highest quarterly total by value on Mergermarket record (since 2006).

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Biotechnology M&A surges to record highs in H1 2019

Global biotechnology M&A has grown successively year on year since 2015, with US$136.6 billion worth of activity recorded last year. Already in the first two quarters of the year, total M&A value in the sector has nearly matched the whole of 2018, with US$135.6 billion in activity registered.

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China outbound M&A value drops to lowest quarter since Q3 2010

There were 36 Chinese outbound cross-border M&A deals in Q2 2019, totaling US$3.4 billion. This represents the lowest quarter by value since Q3 2010 and the lowest by volume since Q1 2013.

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Defense M&A value breaks new record in H1 2019

Already in the first half of 2019, US$90.14 billion in M&A value was recorded in the defense sector, more than three times the annual total in 2018, which was then the highest annual total ever. This was largely due to the announcement of United Technologies’ US$88.9 billion acquisition of Raytheon, the largest deal in the sector on Mergermarket record.

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France-based bidders were second largest source of cross-border activity in H1 2019

As the UK and China took a step back in cross-border dealmaking, France became the second-most active country for outbound M&A by value in H1 2019, taking up 8% of global value, or US$47.91 billion worth of activity.

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US retail banking M&A staging recovery

M&A in the US retail banking sector is staging a slow but steady comeback after many subdued years post-financial crisis (other than outlier year 2015 which recorded US$96.11 billion in M&A). Already in H1 2019, there have been 63 deals totaling US$40.5 billion, a higher value than the US$35.3 billion registered in the entirety of 2018.

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African M&A value surges to highest quarter since Q4 2016

In Q2 2019, African M&A had its best quarter since Q4 2016 by value, with 32 deals worth US$11.5 billion. This was due mainly to US-based Anadarko Petroleum’s sale of US$8.8 billion worth of its Africa-based assets to France’s Total.

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Megadeal value and volume surge in the first quarter of 2019

The first quarter of 2019 saw a 128% quarter-on-quarter rise in deal value to US$439.2 billion and a 37% increase in volume to 26 deals.

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The Middle East region had its best ever quarter on record in Q1 2019

US$92 billion in transaction value was recorded across 59 deals, 86% above total deal value in the entirety of 2018. This was mainly due to one deal, the US$70 billion acquisition of SABIC, a Saudi state-owned chemicals firm SABIC by oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco.

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In Q1 2019, financial services M&A had its best quarter since the end of 2017

Registering US$102.3 billion in deal value, financial services recorded its best start to a year since 2007. This was due to larger deals being struck, as volume was substantially lower: there were only 259 deals in Q1 2019, compared to the 408 deals totalling US$148.49 billion in Q4 2017.

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Brexit worries could be taking their toll on UK M&A

Anxiety around Brexit seems to be weighing on UK M&A. Only 256 deals were recorded in the first quarter of 2019, the lowest quarterly volume figure since Q4 2011. Value fell quarter on quarter to US$35.2 billion, the lowest total since Q2 2016, which registered US$20 billion in deal value.

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Three years of megadeals push media M&A to new heights

In the last three years, megadeals in the media industry—namely the US$105.2 billion AT&T/Time Warner deal in 2016, the USD$84 billion Disney/Fox deal in 2017, and the US$51.5 billion Comcast/Sky deal last year—have pushed total deal value in the sector to the three highest annual totals since the 2008 financial crisis. While Q1 2019 is lower, there are a number of deals in the pipeline.

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