International Corporate Finance

 2015 MARKED RECORD FOR GLOBAL M&A DEALS

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Global M&A volume by year

2015 went down as the most active year

for mergers and acquisitions in history.

According to Thomas Reuter’s annual

report, 2015 saw the unprecedented nu-

mber in global M&A value of some $

trillion following $3.5 trillion in 2014

and $2.8 trillion in 2013. 42,300 deals

were announced worldwide, resulting in

a 0.2% increase compared to 2014. The

fourth quarter of 2015 outperformed

others and totaled $1.6 trillion, making it

the third consecutive quarter with trillion

plus deal value. Europe, the United States

and Asia Pacific were the most dynamic

regions. Partially due to the Quantative

Easing (QE) policy that launched in Ja-

nuary 2015, Europe received $512.2 bil-

lion in inbound deals, the highest on re-

cord. On the other hand, M&A activities

for US targets amounted to $2.3 trillion,

whereas deal value in Asia Pacific hit $1.

trillion, both are unprecedented figures.

2015: An Unprecedented Year in the History of M&A

Apart from the large number of an-

nounced deals, another reason why it

was such an outstanding year were the

71 announced deals each worth more

than $10 billion. Thus 2015 is also re-

cognized as the year of the mega deal.

Last year, although one of the deals in

excess of $100 billion proposed by Pfizer

was withdrawn due to the new tax re-

gulation announced by the US Treasury

Department, deals exceeding $50 billion

contributed to a record share of global

M&A at 19%, up from 10.4% during the

peak in 2007, according to Dealogic. Se-

veral high-profile sectors also hit record

highs in terms of aggregated annual deal

value, among them financial services,

pharmaceuticals, computer manufac-

turing (including electronics and opti-

cal products) and the energy industry,

which all saw a slight decrease in deal

volume yet a surge in total value com-

pared to 2014, thanks to the increased

announced value and dynamic M&A ac-

tivities, according to Raconteur. 

 PHARMACEUTICALS AND TELECOMS PLAY MAJOR ROLE IN 2015 M&A MARKET

Source: David Stockman’s Contra Corner

$bn

Annual aggregated deal value in telecommunications

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

€bn

Source: Raconteur

300.

244.

390

95.

123.

138.

96.

170.

136.