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Alternative Market Briefing

Global M&A value touches $2.9tn in 2020

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

With an overall value of $ 2.9 trillion, global M&A in 2020 is tracking below 2019's value of $3.3tn but still ranks fifth for the value of deals in the post-global financial crisis period, said a study.

According to the EY research looking at global M&A trends in 2020, the M&A activity has varied across regions, with values in Asia-Pacific slowing dramatically in the first two months of 2020 before finishing the year with an increase of 19% to $805bn.

In the Americas, M&A values declined by 29% to $1,27bn, with the US market seeing a fall of 80% at the height of the lockdown compared with 2019, it said.

In EMEIA, the decline in deal value is more limited (3%) to $815bn, with the region having regained most of the lost ground from earlier in the year.

"Following a rollercoaster year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the increase in year-over-year (YoY) value of deals recorded since the beginning of Q3 is likely to continue into 2021, as companies position themselves for improved economic activity and reframe their future for the post-COVID-19 pandemic era," said the report.

The most active sectors were technology, media and entertainment and telecommunications (TMT) with 5,755 deals valued at $973bn (up 6% YoY), financial services with 901 deals valued at $352bn (up 8% YoY), and power and utilities with 525 deals valued at $142bn (up 34% YoY).

Sectors that have been most exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic have seen a mor......................

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