- Global dealmaking grinds to the slowest pace in more than two years as fears of an economic slowdown deflate corporate confidence and a $200B tobacco industry merger was scuttled due to shareholder criticism.
- So far this year, total M&A activity has fallen 11% to $2.8T, with ~$740B of deals in Q3, according to data provider Refinitiv.
- A wave of transactions greater than $10B in size have helped to offset a decline in dealmaking among smaller companies and a slight drop-off in private equity buyouts.
- The three months to the end of September was the quietest quarter for announced takeovers since mid-2017.
- European dealmaking fell 32% to $556B vs. the same period a year ago. Activity in Asia was also off sharply.
- Data from Refinitiv shows M&A fees earned by Citi (NYSE:C), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), UBS (NYSE:UBS), and Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) are all off at least 20% YTD.
Date: October 07, 2019
Source: Seeking Alpha
