Political risks scared companies off inking deals so far this year, according to Dealogic—except for Chinese and Japanese firms that hunted US and European targets.
Overall, global cross‐border M&A stood at USD 899.5 billion, down an annual 9 percent, the report found.
Among the top ten largest transactions so far this year, Bayer's USD 66.3 billion purchase of Monsanto in May was number one, followed by ChemChina's USD 43 billion purchase of Sygenta.
Technology was the most active sector for deals globally, with agreements worth USD 475.4 billion, while healthcare—last year's darling—fell 48 percent on‐year to USD 255.4 billion.
Here's a regional breakdown of Dealogic's findings.
US
Domestic M&A volume tanked 38 percent to USD 771.3 billion, with fewer mega-deals across sectors. Abbott Laboratories' USD 30.6 billion bid for St Jude Medical in April was the largest domestic deal in 2016 so far, versus the eight deals that were each above the USD 30 billion mark in the same nine months of 2015.
Europe
All the largest European economies recorded year‐on‐year declines in M&A volume.
Following a slow first half, post-Brexit UK M&A volume reached USD 62.1 billion in the third quarter, the highest Q3 result since 2008 thanks to SoftBank's USD 31.6 billion bid for ARM Holdings in July.
Asia Pacific
The region was particularly active in outbound M&A, the report showed.
Acquisitions of European targets hit a record high of USD 145.9 billion, with the ChemChina-Sygenta and SoftBank-ARM deals accounting for 54 percent of total Asian deal volume into Europe.
Chinese acquisitions into the US reached an annual record high for both volume and activity at USD 35.7 billion spent on 124 deals. Meanwhile, Japanese firms inked a record 132 deals with US targets.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
