Thursday, October 31, 2013

Major deals fueling M&A confidence across the globe

Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/16dtCxQ

Global M&A for quarters one to three of this year had a total value of $1,606.7 billion, representing a 5.5 per cent increase on the same time period last year, according to data from Mergermarket. This year is now on track to record the highest total M&A deal value since 2008.

Much of the reason behind the increase in M&A activity – which saw a 41.5 per cent rise in deal values from quarter three of 2012 to quarter three of 2013 – has been attributed to the improving stability of the European economy, with confidence growing as firms look once more to make strategic purchases against a more solid economic backdrop.

One of the most significant deals to take place this year was the $130 billion Vodafone-Verizon deal, representing the biggest US-based corporate deal since 2001. Largely as a result of this deal, September was ranked as the top month in terms of deal values of 2013 so far.

Corporate head at international law firm Macfarlanes, Charles Meek, told Legal Week: “Our role on the Verizon deal has kept a lot of people busy. But we are now seeing a bit of a pick-up in activity across the board and, although deals are still taking time and still carry quite a bit of uncertainty, we are reasonably optimistic for the rest of the year. The current economic news and the absence of a recent euro crisis seem to be helping,” he added.

Some of the other mega deals recorded over the last few months include the acquisition of food heavyweight Heinz by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital in a transaction worth $28 billion. Co-head of M&A at law firm Freshfields, Ben Spiers, told the publication: “With some CEOs being bolder this will no doubt help others – M&A is so much about confidence.”

Corporate and capital markets partner at Linklaters, Tom Shropshire, confirmed that, while global markets were “sensing more activity in the US at this stage of the economic upturn,” there remained challenges to M&A activity.

“The continuing challenge is that, while there are big deals, we still would like to see a steady flow of smaller and medium-sized deals to complement that larger deal activity,” he told Legal Week. “We are cautiously optimistic about the months ahead, particularly if IPOs start happening; however, there are 'headwind' risks, including the US Government shutdown and spending limits,” Mr Shropshire went on to say.



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Read the full article here:
http://www.datasite.com/major-deals-fueling-mergers-acquisitions-confidence-across-globe118.htm

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