86 Acquisition International - Issue 7 2018 There have been 44,951 mergers and acquisitions worth USD 2,905,804 million signed off globally in the opening six months of 2018, according to Zephyr, the M&A database published by Bureau van Dijk. While volume was the lowest recorded since H1 2013, value was the highest to be signed off in a half-year period since H2 2015. n terms of value, H1 2018 advanced 17 per cent from USD 2,475,894 million in H2 2017 and 23 per cent from USD 2,353,360 million in H1 2017. The increase by value is primarily attributable to ten of the top 20 deals being worth over USD 20,000 million and together accounting for 16 per cent of total value recorded during the six-month period. Volume represents a decline on 51,280 deals in H2 2017 and 51,639 deals in H1 2017, which suggests buyers favoured individual transactions with higher valuations over prolific dealmaking during the timeframe under review. The largest such deal signed off during the opening six months of 2018 involved the Walt Disney Company increasing its offer in Twenty-First Century Fox to USD 85,100 million. Disney improved its original bid to include cash, as well as stock, after Comcast tabled an offer of more than USD 60,000 million in cash. This was followed by a USD 67,000 billion acquisition of Express Scripts Holding Company by Cigna. The third largest transaction was Takeda Pharmaceutical’s USD 62,373 million purchase of UK-based Shire, while NXP Semiconductors was picked up by Qualcomm River Holdings for USD 53,000 million. All of the top 20 deals by value were worth more than USD 10,000 million apiece and targeted a diverse range of countries and industries, including Spain, China, Bermuda and Singapore, with companies targeted soft drinks manufacturers, mobile payment platforms and biopharmaceutical businesses. Each of the four largest deals exceeded USD 50,000 million and can partly be attributed to the increase by value during H1 2018. Having featured in six of the top 10 deals by value it comes as no surprise that companies operating in Western Europe attracted the most investment in H1 2018, with USD 985,434 million injected into the region, representing the largest in a six-month period since H1 2007 (USD 1,171,100 million). North America was targeted in seven of the top 20 deals and was a close second by value with USD 962,126 million, up significantly from USD 789,410 million, followed by Far East and Central Asia (USD 629,126 million) and South and Central America (USD 151,970 million). Western Europe also led the way by volume with 13,360 deals, Far East and Central Asia was close behind with 12,982 deals, while North America was third with 11,455 deals. The personal, leisure and business services industry has notched up the most investment in 2018 to date, unsurprisingly as it has been the second most popular sector since the start of 2006. There have been 8,818 deals worth an aggregate USD 618,425 million signed off in the sector so far this year. Companies operating in the banking, insurance and financial services industry came second with 6,568 deals worth USD 544,775 million, while computer, IT and Internet services featured in 9,062 deals worth USD 444,342 million and industrial, electric and electronic machinery recorded 4,835 deals worth USD 314,663 million. To conclude, H1 2018 has been a successful period for the value of global mergers and acquisitions and if activity continues on this same trajectory, 2018 could be in a premium position to be one of the most successful years on record. While volume still has some catching up to do, the large number of high-valued deals has significantly boosted dealmaking in the year to date. 2018 has already recorded more than half of 2017’s total value of USD 4,829,254 million and is worth more than any other first-half period since H1 2007, when deals worth USD 3,134,882 million were announced. Company: Bureau van Dijk E-Mail:
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