58 Acquisition International - Issue 10 2019 Q3 has been a quiet quarter in terms of volume and value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals announced worldwide, according to Zephyr, the M&A database published by Bureau van Dijk. There have been 20,782 deals worth a combined USD 918,050 million announced since the start of Q3 2019, representing the lowest-recorded value and the first-time value did not break the USD 1,000 million-barrier since Q1 2014 (USD 935,789 million). olume in Q3 2019 represents a 20 per cent decline year-on- year, while volume is down 24 per cent, from 25,990 deals worth USD 1,215,145 million in Q3 2018. Quarter-on-quarter, volume decreased 31 per cent from 30,143 deals, while value declined 38 per cent from USD 1,475,597 million in Q2 2019. The majority of volume in the three months under review came from minority stake deals (11,069), while the bulk of value can be attributed to acquisitions (USD 447,337 million). Despite the decline in Q3, there were a number of sizable transactions announced worldwide, with six deals that exceeded USD 10,000 million and together represented 11 per cent of total value in the three- month period. The largest of these is worth USD 27,000 million and involves the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) agreeing to acquire UK-based financial analytics software provider Refinitiv. This deal is likely to face hurdles, with the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing looking to increase shareholder interest in their concurrent offer to take over the LSE. Pfizer is acquiring Mylan via its newly-formed off- patent business named Upjohn in a deal worth USD 22,500 million in the second biggest transaction, while the third-largest deal involves Amgen buying Celgene’s OTEZLA assets for USD 13,400 million. In addition, CBS is buying Viacom for USD 11,570 million, Asahi Group is picking up Anheuser-Busch InBev’s CUB, also known as Carlton & United Breweries, for USD 11,291 million and Broadcom has agreed a USD 10,700 million deal for Symantec’s enterprise business. In total, eight of the top 20 deals announced in Q3 2019 targeted businesses in Western Europe, while six featured targets based in North America and two were in Asia Pacific. Nine US-based acquirors also featured in these transactions, along with six buyers in Western Europe and three acquirors located in Japan and China. Unsurprisingly, given its dominance in the top 20, targets in Western Europe led the way by value with USD 290,674 million, the Far East and Central Asia was second with USD 252,339 million, followed by North America (USD 245,514 million). In terms of volume, the Far East and Central Asia was top with 7,616 deals, Western Europe second with 5,218 deals and North America third with 5,048 deals. In the year to date, 82,088 deals worth an aggregate USD 3,735,242 million have been announced worldwide across all sectors in 2019 to date, compared to 118,597 deals worth USD 5,691,437 million for the entire 12 months of 2018. The machinery, equipment, furniture and recycling and chemicals, rubber and plastics have been the main targets in 2019 and with still three months until the year end, 2019 is on track to be a successful year for M&A dealmaking and could also potentially surpass 2018. Company: Bureau van Dijk E-Mail:
[email protected] Web: www.bvdinfo.com Q3 Round-up V “The machinery, equipment, furniture and recycling and chemicals, rubber and plastics have been the main targets in 2019 and with still three months until the year end, 2019 is on track to be a successful year for M&A dealmaking and could also potentially surpass 2018. ”