Global M&A deal volume hits $1.5 trn in H1

Global merger and acquisition (M&A) deal volume reached $1.5 trillion in the first half of this year, registering a 22% increase from last year levels, says a report by deal tracking firm Dealogic.

Global M&A deals were mainly targeted at the Americas, followed by the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the Asia Pacific region, including India and China.

In the first half of 2011, the US targeted M&A totalled $573.1 billion, up 38% from last year, Europe-focused M&A was at $453.1 billion (up 29%) and Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) stood at $282.9 billion (up 21%).

China was the most targeted nation in Asia Pacific with $84.3 billion in the first half of 2011 followed by Australia ($71.9 billion), Japan ($55.8 billion) and India ($32 billion).

 

"India has the second-highest cross region inbound M&A volume in Asia Pacific with $22.3 billion in the period under review, up a whopping 144% from last year," Dealogic said.

"BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India and China] nations targeted cross border M&A was $65.7 billion in H1 2011 and accounted for 50% of emerging market cross border and 14% of global cross-border volume," the report said.

A sectorwise analysis shows that real estate was the leading sector in the first half of this year with $147.8 billion through 1,321 deals. This sector attracted $21 billion deals -- the highest number since the first half of 2008, Dealogic said.

Goldman Sachs led the Global, European & Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) M&A advisor rankings in the January-June period.

Goldman Sachs led the cross border advisory ranking with $154.9 billion, followed by JPMorgan with $101.7 billion and Morgan Stanley with $93 billion.

The emerging market's share in the total global M&A pie stood at just 24% -- the lowest level since the second half of 2009 when it stood at 23%.

The emerging market targeted volume reached $363.2 billion in first half of this year, down 9% from $400.2 billion in the first half of 2010.

The average deal size in the region has also declined 10% to $81 million from $91 million an year ago, Dealogic added.