Lucille Jones, Deals Intelligence Analyst, Refinitiv comments: “Deals totalling US$388.2 billion were announced globally during the month of October 2020, down 20% from the previous month but marking an increase of 21% from October 2019 and the highest October total in four years. Deals worth US$1.5 trillion have been announced since July, with only 2015 seeing a stronger start to the second half since our records began in the 1970s.”
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October 2020: Second Highest Monthly Mega Deal Tally of All Time
Global M&A: Highest October Total in Four Years
Deals totalling US$388.2 billion were announced globally during the month of October 2020, down 20% from the previous month but marking an increase of 21% from October 2019 and the highest October total in four years.
US$2.7 trillion worth of deals were announced globally during the first ten months of 2020, 14% less than the same period last year and the lowest year to date level since 2017. Deals worth US$1.5 trillion have been announced since July, with only 2015 seeing a stronger start to the second half since our records began in the 1970s.
Regions: US M&A Increases for 6 th Consecutive Month
Deals involving a target in the Americas totalled US$212.9 billion during October 2020, up 17% from September 2020 and marking the 6 th consecutive monthly increase in activity since M&A dropped to less than US$30 billion in April, the lowest monthly total in 17 years.
US$90.4 billion worth of deals were announced in Europe during October 2020, the highest October total in 5 years, despite declining 45% from the previous month. In Asia Pacific merger activity totalled US$75.1 billion, 7% less than the previous month and down 4% compared to October 2019.
Mega Deals: Second Highest Monthly Tally of All Time
Nineteen deals worth US$5 billion or more were announced during October 2020, a monthly tally only exceeded once, in May 2007, since our records began.
Ninety three mega deals have been announced so far during 2020, compared to eighty one during the same period last year. The combined value of these deals is US$1.2 trillion, down 14% compared to last year.
Sectors: Tech Deals Dominate in October 2020
Deals in the technology sector totalled US$85.7 billion during October 2020, a monthly value only exceeded once in the last two years. Technology deals total US$474.4 billion so far during 2020, 33% more than last year and the highest year to date total since 2015.
Technology deals account for 17% of global M&A by value this year, the highest share of all time.
Private Equity: Record Number of Deals Announced YTD Private equity
backed M&A totalled US$49.0 billion during the month of October 2020, 10% less than the value recorded during September 2020, but the highest October total since 2006.
The value of deals announced so far during 2020 is US$416.6 billion, up 3% from last year and the highest year to date total since 2007. More than six thousand deals have been announced so far this year, an all time record.
Spac M&A: Highest Monthly Deal Tally of All Time
Twenty eight spac acquisitions, with a combined value of US$19.5 billion were announced during October 2020. While the value was down 45% from September 2020, the number of deals reached an all time monthly high.
Spacs have struck US$98.7 billion worth of deals so far during 2020, more than the previous twelve years combined. 122 deals have been announced so far this year, 67% more than during the same period last year.
