Corporate takeover deals surged to their highest levels since the financial crisis this year, with merger and acquisition volumes rising 47 per cent to $3.34tn globally.
In the busiest period since 2007, megadeals returned with a vengeance, as historically low borrowing rates, buoyant capital markets and inflated share prices prompted big transactions with the potential to remake industries — particularly in pharmaceuticals, technology and media.
The thirst for deals is expected to pour into the new year, led by the US and UK, where growth prospects are rosier than in other developed economies.
Wilhelm Schulz, head of M&A at Citigroup for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “A clear theme of this year has been the need for large European companies to make acquisitions outside their main markets. That outbound M&A is likely to persist in 2015.”
But by number of deals, Thomson Reuters data show that M&A activity climbed just 5 per cent from a year ago, meaning that midsized and small companies have yet to join in.
Henrik Aslaksen, global head of M&A at Deutsche Bank, said: “The large deals are masking subdued growth in M&A activity. The rate of growth of deal activity in the US is likely to normalise next year following a very strong 2014. However, we could see Emea activity pick-up from a comparatively low base.”
Three deals this year, including Comcast’s $71bn acquisition of Time Warner Cable and AT&T’s $67.2bn takeover of DirecTV, ranked among the 10 largest of the past decade if debt on the target company’s balance sheet is added.
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