2014 Set to be the strongest year for global M&A since financial crisis
10.12.2014Company: Clifford Chance Prague LLP, organizační složka
Deal values in 2014 are in line to top levels not seen since 2007, according to a preview of international law firm Clifford Chance’s latest Global M&A Trends report.
Looking back on a strong year for global M&A, the report shows which geographies and sectors have slowed down, and which have raced ahead. The US market has enjoyed a strong period of M&A activity with total deal values up and growth driven in part by inbound deals. Technology features prominently in the report with the TMT sector seeing strong M&A activity over the last 12 months, and an increasing emphasis on cyber security and data privacy seen at the due-diligence stage of deals.
2014 snapshot
• Europe and Asia Pacific have continued to see growth in M&A deals. The US once again proves its resilience with deals totalling US$ 1.185trn in 2014 to date, a 54% increase year-on–year and including a 179% increase in inbound deals by value.
• Cross-border M&A continues to rise, with M&A activity between the five main regions accounting for 25% of total global M&A deal value.
• Healthcare and Consumer Goods/Retail become the fast rising sectors for M&A activity.
• Financial sponsors who traditionally focused on private equity in developed markets have diversified into multiple asset classes, new niche sectors and different geographies. In particular, sponsors are shifting their focus away from the low growth developed economies and into high growth markets such as those in Africa where inbound investment from the US has increased materially over the year, and intra-African M&A has risen nearly four-fold.
