M&A at a Glance (May 2013)

April continued the recent trend of larger deals as total volume and average value of deals increased significantly both globally and in the U.S. despite decreases in the number of deals in both markets. Strategic transactions drove this growth, as the volume and number of sponsor-related transactions decreased globally and in the U.S. See Figure 1. April also saw two of the top five largest announced U.S. public mergers of the past twelve months in Dish Network Corporation's $21.08 billion proposed acquisition of Sprint Nextel Corporation, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s $12.95 billion acquisition of Life Technologies Corporation, continuing the trend of increased mega deal activity. See Figures 4-5. Telecommunications took over the top spot among the most active U.S. target industries over the last twelve months by volume for the first time since the inception of this publication in April 2012, while Computers & Electronics continued its unbroken run as the most active industry by number of deals. See Figure 2. Reverse break fees continued to increase in April, even as average deal size took an upward turn, in opposition to the inverse relationship evidenced in past months. However, this increase is due to the particularly high reverse break fee reported by MergerMetrics in the acquisition of Crimson Exploration Inc. by Contango Oil & Gas Company. Similarly, target break fees increased above 4% for the first time since December 2011, however, this was driven in part by the high target break fee reported in the acquisition of MPG Office Trust, Inc. by Brookfield Office Properties Inc. See Figure 6. At 75% of U.S. public mergers, cash only deals continued their recent climb back from the recent February low of 50%. See Figure 9. Finally, 33% of U.S. public merger offers announced in April were hostile or unsolicited, more than double the percentage over the last twelve months. See Figure 12.