Global M&A league Table: Thomson Reuters – Top 25 firms

Worldwide M&A Up 40%; Strong Gains for Large Cap Deals, Energy and Healthcare M&A Drive Strongest First Half Since 2007; Goldman Sachs Top Advisor.

Worldwide M&A up 40%, strongest first half for deal making since 2007

Powered by a 48% increase in the number of deals over $5 billion, which account for record-breaking 50% of announced M&A value, worldwide M&A totaled US$2.2 trillion during the first half of 2015, a 40% increase from comparable 2014 levels and the strongest opening half for worldwide deal making since 2007. Sixty-two deals with a value greater than $5 billion were announced during the first half of 2015, their combined value more than double the level seen during the first half of 2014.

Number of deals rise 3%

Almost 20,500 worldwide deals were announced during the first half of 2015, a 3% increase compared to last year. Second quarter 2015 M&A totaled US$1.4 trillion, a 63% increase by value and 8% by number of deals compared to the first quarter of 2015, marking the first trillion-dollar plus quarter since the second quarter of 2007.

United States & Asia Pacific M&A hit all-time records

M&A activity for United States targets totaled US$1.0 trillion during the first half of 2015, an increase of 60% compared to the level of activity seen during the first half of 2014 and the strongest opening half for US M&A since records began in 1980. With US$575.7 billion in announced deals during the first half of 2015, Asia Pacific M&A also registered the strongest first six month period for deal making in the region since records began.

Energy & power, healthcare, & tech lead activity

Driven by oil & gas M&A, deal making in the Energy & Power sector totaled US$361.9 billion during the first half of 2015, an increase of 72% compared to 2014 levels, while Healthcare and Technology M&A increased 58% and 81%, respectively. With US$174.5 billion in announced deals during the first half of 2015, the Financial sector saw the only year-over-year percentage decline, down 5% compared to the first six months of 2014.

Cross border M&A up 20%

Cross Border M&A activity totaled US$760.3 billion during the first half of 2015, accounting for 34% of overall M&A volume and a 20% increase over first half 2014 levels. Cross border M&A accounted for 34% of total M&A activity during the first half of 2014.

Completed M&A advisory fees up 6%

According to estimates from Thomson Reuters/Freeman Consulting, M&A advisory fees from completed transactions totaled US$13.9 billion during the first half of 2015, a 8.6% increase from the comparable period in 2014.

Thomson Reuters via HITC