Global M&A is up 21.5% in Q1-Q3 2011
According to mergermarket, an independent Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) intelligence service, global M&A for the first three quarters of 2011 totalled US$ 1,718bn, up 21.5% from the same period in 2010 (US$ 1,414.4bn). US$ 510.2bn-worth of deals announced globally in the third quarter of 2011, down 9.7% from Q2 2011 (US$ 564.8bn).
Goldman Sachs continued to lead the global M&A financial advisory tables by total deal value for the year to September, advising on 241 deals worth US$ 471.5bn, having displaced JPMorgan which led after the first quarter. Goldman has worked on four of the ten largest deals announced so far in 2011.
US M&A had a strong start to 2011 with US $293.6bn-worth of announced deals in the first quarter, US M&A activity dropped by over 34% in the following two quarters – with Q2 closing at US$ 191.7bn and Q3 at US$ 193.6bn.
European M&A stood at US$ 538.3bn, an increase of 26.9% compared to Q1-Q3 2010 (US$ 424.2bn). Q3 saw US$ 129.6bn-worth of deals, a 43.3% drop from to Q2 2011 (US$ 228.4bn).
Asia-Pacific M&A stood at US$ 255.5bn, up 4.9% from Q1-Q3 2010 (US$ 243.5bn). Q3 activity was up 16.8%, from US$ 78bn in Q2 2011 to US$ 91.1bn.
Emerging Market M&A down for three consecutive quarters
The total value of emerging markets deals announced has decreased continually for three quarters in a row since Q4 2010 (US$ 179.3bn): by 23.8% to Q1 2011’s US$ 136.7bn, then by another 19.8% to Q2’s US$ 109.7bn, and in the last quarter it dropped by 17.6% to US$ 90.4bn. This was an overall decrease in M&A activity of 49.6% since Q4 2010.
Private equity buyouts strongest since Q1-Q3 2008
The first nine months of 2011 saw US$ 219.4bn-worth of buyout transactions globally, up 41.1% from the same period last year (US$ 155.5bn), and the strongest Q1-Q3 period since 2008 (US$ 224.7bn). The continuing growth in buyout activity was also reflected in the proportion of global M&A activity accounted for by buyouts: 12.9% in Q1-Q3 2011, up from 11% for the same period last year, and the highest first nine-month proportion since 2007.
Equity-only M&A deals dropped by 6.6%
The total value of equity-only deals in the first three quarters of this year was 6.6% lower than in the same period last year, amounting to US$ 277.2bn by the end of September 2011, compared to US$ 296.8bn in Q1-Q3 2010. Globally, the proportion of transactions paid with only equity decreased, with such deals accounting for 19.9% of total deal value in the first nine months of 2011, compared to 24.9% for the same period last year.
Industrials & Chemicals top sector in Q3
The Industrials & Chemicals sector saw US$ 297.4bn-worth of deals in the first three quarters of 2011, 68.5% up from the total value seen in the same period last year (US$ 176.5bn in Q1-Q3 2010). It is this sector which dominated the third quarter, with US$ 99.9bn-worth of deals (up by 14.8% compared to Q2 2011’s US$ 87bn). The Energy, Mining & Utilities sector remains top for the first three quarters of the year.
