London, UK, 3rd July 2018: Mergermarket, leading M&A data and intelligence provider, has released its H1 2018 Global M&A Report with financial advisor league tables. Global M&A activity has reached its highest post-crisis value with US$ 1.94 tn (8,560 deals) recorded in the first six months of the year as traditional corporates look to regain market share from newer, disruptive firms. Highlights of the report include:
- There have now been 26 megadeals (> US$ 10bn) announced so far this year, just four short of the number seen during the entirety of 2017. This included six deals worth over US$ 20bn in the second quarter – pushing the Q2 value above the US$ 1tn mark.
- Protectionism has pushed dealmakers to look internally, with the influence of cross-border M&A falling in first six months of the year. Firms appear to be more cautious over pursuing high-profile cross-border deals with the majority of this year’s increase being driven by domestic M&A.
“It appears the stars are aligning for M&A in 2018. Financing remains cheap while tech innovation is causing traditional corporates to fight back against newer, more innovative firms” Jonathan Klonowski, Research Editor (EMEA), Mergermarket
Takeda’s US$ 79.7bn offer for Shire was the largest deal of the quarter.
Goldman Sachs & Co led the financial advisor league tables having advised on 190 deals worth $663.2bn.
Davis Polk & Wardwell led the legal advisor league tables having advised on 73 deals worth US$ 314.3bn.
Click here to download the full report with financial advisor league tables.
Click here to download the full report with legal advisor league tables.