M&A Intelligence Service Mergermarket released its Mergers and Acquisitions overview for Q1 – Q3 of 2013. Here is a synopsis of the key global trends.
Global M&A deal flow
Global M&A deal flow crossed an important milestone in 2013 – for the first time Q1-Q3 M&A value of USD 1606.7B overtook the value of USD 1522.8B achieved for the same period in 2012. This represented a 5.5% growth and at this rate, 2013 could see the highest total since 2008 (USD 2407.6B).
Top Regions
The U.S. (USD 654.5B) had a 40.7% share and Europe (USD 478.7B) had 29.8%. Here’s the quarter-wise, regional breakdown:
Financial advisory leadership
In the global financial advisor sweepstakes, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (deal value USD 499.7B) surpassed JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) (deal value USD 449.6B), reaching the top of the table for the first time in 2013. Here are the top five financial advisors for Q1-Q3 giving deal value in USD and deal count:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) – USD 499.68B – 226
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) – USD 454.02B – 176
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – USD 423.63B – 175
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) – USD 413.81B – 145
Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) (LON:BARC) – USD 303.78B – 115
Industry to note
2013 will be noted for the bumper deal-making seen in the TMT (Technology, Media and Telecom) sector. At USD 445.6B, it was up 40.5% over the total for 2012.
Big-ticket deals
The top five global deals were as follows:
Deal size
The average deal size in Q1 – Q3 2013 (US$ 334m) was the highest average since 2007 (US$ 351.3m) following the mega deals in Q3 and mid-market value.
During Q3, average deal size at USD 403.6B was the highest since Q2 of 2007 (USD 466.6M).
Funding
Cash + equity deals at USD 157.6B were up 17.7% compared to USD 133.9B for the year ago period.
EBITDA multiples
Global average EBITDA exit multiples reached their lowest since 2001 to 12.5x (compared to 13.2x in 2012). Global averages were pressured by lower trends in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Japan.
