Dubai: After going through a near record year for mergers and acquisitions, the world is expected to experience another wave of M&A deals in the next 12 months according to the recently released Global Capital Confidence Barometer survey from EY.
Acquisition International reports that so far this year, the value of M&A activity has been worth $4.02 trillion (Dh14.8 trillion), $600 billion short of the all-time record of $4.61 trillion set in 2007. Mega-deals such as drinks behemoth Anheuser-Busch InBev’s acquisition of rival SABMiller for $105.6 billion and computer giant Dell’s purchase of data storage company EMC for $67 billion have been the stand out stories of the year.
In the recently released Global Capital Confidence Barometer survey, more than three-quarters (74 per cent) of senior-level executives surveyed said they plan to actively pursue M&A deals over the next 12 months, the highest level on the barometer in six years.
Some 15 per cent of respondents said they believe mergers and acquisitions will remain stable, and only 2 per cent of executives believe M&As will begin to decrease over the next 12 months. Nearly 88 per cent of executives said they had at least two or three deals in the pipeline. More than half said they have three or more deals in the pipeline. Executives also told EY that they expect upper-market deals worth between $250 million and $1 billion to increase.
The top industries expected to engage in mergers and acquisitions include consumer products and retail, automotive and transportation, real estate, and life sciences.
Despite economic concerns, China still remains the top area of interest for mergers and acquisitions among firms in the US, China, and Germany. EY notes that the country’s growth rate of nearly 7 per cent remains an attractive factor relative to the global economy.
