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M&A at a Glance (June 2014)
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June 16, 2014 download PDF
Following a particularly strong April, the global M&A market in May 2014 reversed course with volume declining by 33%. The drop was due mainly to a 37.5% decrease in deal volume by dollar value for strategic transactions. Crossborder transactions also saw a significant decline in deal volume, with total global crossborder transactions decreasing by $135.76 million (60.6%) due largely to a 66.2% decline in average deal value. In the U.S., deal volume and number of deals also declined in the aggregate, albeit more modestly. Figure 1.
Keeping up with the trend over the last 12 months, the telecommunications industry was more active than any other industry in May 2014, with $68.58 billion in deal volume, stemming in large part from AT&T Inc.'s offer for DIRECTV. Figure 2. Germany took the top spot in May 2014 for U.S. inbound crossborder transactions when measured by deal volume ($14.23 billion), but Canada took first place when measured by number of deals (42 deals). For U.S. outbound crossborder transactions, Canada led the way in both deal volume ($6.79 billion) and deal numbers (26 deals). Figure 3.
Looking solely at U.S. public mergers valued at $100 million and above, May 2014 saw an increase in average deal value to $7.86 billion over the already high April 2014 average. Figure 4. For mergers for which a definitive agreement has been filed, only one merger contained a go-shop provision, following April 2014 which had no transactions containing a go-shop provision. Figure 8. For the first time since the M&A at a Glance publication began, no U.S. public mergers involved a financial buyer in May 2014.