Mergermarket releases its third quarter (Q3) 2014 Global M&A trend report with financial advisors. Please see here for the full version.
Highlights for Europe include:
- Europe-targeted M&A through to the end of Q3 has already surpassed 2013 values by 11.4% with deals totaled US$ 714.7bn
- A rise in valuable European targets coming to market so far this year has been one driver for corporates seeking assets - over 200 more targets were purchased compared to Q1-Q3 2013 (854 exits), resulting in 1,055 deals launching 39% higher than 2013’s total value at US$ 281.3bn
- The growing presence of US companies increased total deal value and also boosted inbound M&A to an all time high. The value of inbound M&A up to the end of Q3 stood at US$ 287.2bn, 23.2% higher than the previous peak in 2008
- The restored faith in European companies uplifted the average deal size to US$ 427m, even higher than 2007’s annual average (US$ 388.9m)
- Outbound deals valued at US$ 257.3bn up to the end of Q3 reached the second highest annual value on record after 2007. The value was partly driven by uber active German companies producing US$ 67.5bn-worth of outbound M&A, a record high for the country