Global M&A Exceeds $500 Billion for Third Consecutive Month

All-Time Record: $2.4 Trn YTD Levels – Global M&A Exceeds $500 Bn for 3rd Consecutive Month

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Global M&A exceeds $500 billion

Global M&A exceeds $500 billion for 3rd consecutive month to reach all-time record YTD level of $2.4 trillion

Highest YTD total since our records began in 1980: US$2.4 trillion worth of M&A deals were announced globally YTD
- 158% more than the same period last year
Highest May total of all time & more than 4x the value recorded during May 2020: US$532.9 billion worth of deals were recorded during May 2021
- Marked the 3rd consecutive month to exceed $500 billion – a monthly total only exceeded eight times since our records began

Deals involving a US target totalled US$274.2 billion during May 2021
- 3% less than the previous month
- 5^th highest monthly total since our records began in 1980
All-time YTD high & more than 3x the value recorded during the same period last year: The value of US deals recorded during the first five months of 2021 is US$1.2 trillion
- European deals increased 67% from last month to US$104.7 billion
- M&A in Asia-Pacific declined 37% to US$81.8 billion
- Deal making increased 58% YoY in Europe to a 3-year high of US$434.4 billion, while in Asia-Pacific, M&A announcements increased 78% to an all-time YTD high of US$433.7 billion.

78 deals worth US$1 billion or more were announced during May 2021
- 7^th highest monthly tally since our records began in 1980
The combined value of these deals was US$416.2 billion
- 3^rd highest monthly value since our records began in 1980
All-time YTD high: 428 billion dollar deals have been announced so far during 2021, compared to 131 during the same period last year
- 82 deals were valued at US$5 billion or more

Media is the most targeted sector during May 2021, pushing tech off the top spot for the first time in 10 months

3rd highest monthly tally of all-time: 28 SPAC combinations were announced globally during May 2021
163 SPAC acquisitions have been announced so far during 2021, compared to just 14 during the same period last year
All-time YTD high & almost 40x the value recorded during the first five months of 2020: The combined value of these deals is US$348 billion
For the first time in ten months, technology is not the leading sector in May 2021
- More than any other sector: With the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, and Amazon’s offer for MGM, media & entertainment deals account for 29% of M&A announcements by value during May 2021
- US$152 billion worth of media & entertainment deals were announced during May 2021
  - 2nd highest monthly total since our records began in 1980
  - Media & entertainment deals total US$252 billion so far during 2021, a figure only exceeded once during the first five months of the year, in 2000.

US$113 billion worth of technology deals were announced during May 2021
- 3^rd highest monthly total in the sector since our records began in 1980
- Tech was the leading M&A sector for nine consecutive months, between August 2020 and April 2021
- Technology deals total US$571 billion so far during 2021, more than double the previous YTD record of US$268 billion recorded in 2000
- Tech deals account for 24% of global M&A by value so far this year, up from 12% in YTD 2020