M&A at a Glance (December 2013)

Following declines in the volume of M&A transactions across the board in October, November 2013 saw relatively flat total deal volume globally and a slight uptick in total deal volume in the U.S.  Sharp decreases in the number of deals were counterbalanced by significant increases in average deal volume across both strategic and sponsor-related transactions domestically and globally.  Additional declines were seen in both the number and volume of crossborder transactions.  Figure 1.  Public mergers told a different story than the broader M&A market in November, as both the average value of all U.S. public mergers and the average value of the five largest U.S. public mergers fell, continuing the trend since August of fewer mega-deals.  Figure 4.  Moreover, the average target break fee and average reverse break fee as a percentage of equity value rose this month.  Figure 6.  The average reverse break fee was up to 5.4%, reverting closer to historical norms.  Figure 7.  No public mergers included go-shop provisions this month.  Figure 8.  Unlike October, which boasted an increase in transactions using a combination of cash and stock as consideration, all U.S. public mergers used solely stock or solely cash as consideration this month.  Figure 9.  Finally, at 62.5%, tender offers represented the largest percentage of U.S. public mergers since the inception of this publication (the previously noted high was 38.5% in November 2012).  Figure 11.