Global M&A activity in 2020 was a remarkable tale of two halves, with historically low M&A volume in the first half of the year, especially in the months following the initial outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, followed by an explosion of activity in the second half of the year.
We are delighted to inform you of the publication of Ecosystem Edge: Sustaining Competitiveness in the Face of Disruption, a fascinating new book authored by Professor Peter Williamson of Cambridge Judge Business School, who is an XBMA Founding Director, and Professor Arnoud De Meyer of Singapore Management University, who co-hosted the recent XBMA Singapore symposium. An introduction to some … Continued
The Coming Impact of ESG Recent months have seen institutional investors and other stakeholders, notably BlackRock and State Street, stressing the importance of comparable and decision-useful ESG disclosures by their portfolio companies. Such calls follow in the wake of growing interest among investors and other stakeholders in understanding and assessing the performance of companies based … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: In Q3 2019, global M&A volume was US$784 billion, reaching US$2.8 trillion for the year to date. Global M&A volume could, based on the current pace, exceed US$3.5 trillion in annual volume in 2019 for the fifth time in the last decade. But there are signs of a slow-down. U.S. M&A volume, the … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: In Q2 2019, global M&A volume reached US$1 trillion for the quarter and surpassed US$2 trillion for the year to date. Global M&A volume in 2019 is on pace to reach the US$4 trillion mark for the second consecutive year and only the third time in the last decade. The significant global deal … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A in 2018 is at record levels, and at the current pace could approach 2007’s all-time high of almost US$5 trillion. Cross-border dealmaking has surged, with the volume of cross-border M&A over the first three quarters of 2018 already far surpassing that of all of 2017. Likewise, the market for mega-deals remains … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: The global M&A environment continued to show historic strength in 2018, as global deal volume reached nearly US$1.3 trillion for the second quarter and US$2.5 trillion for the first half of the year. Global M&A activity has enjoyed a steady climb over the last several quarters and has increased sharply since Q3 2017, … Continued
Over the past decade a global trend of optimising holding company structures has developed amongst publicly traded multinational corporations. The strategic relocation of a holding company is, more often than not, conducted in tandem with a merger or other significant M&A transaction. Ireland, alongside other jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland, has emerged … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: Global deal volume in 2017 exceeded US$3.6 trillion, just US$80 billion shy of 2016’s volume. 2015, 2016, and 2017 have been the three strongest years of deal-making since the financial crisis, with 2015 representing the high water mark of US$4.4 trillion. Consistent with the trend over the previous two years, global M&A accelerated … Continued
