January 23, 2007
Global M&A at All Time High in 2006: $3.7 trillion
Mergers and acquisitions worldwide have jumped 30% in 2006 to hit a all time record $3.7 trillion, surpassing the 2000 high of $3.4 trillion, according to data released by Thomson Financial, including:
– The US was the most targeted country for acquisitions, representing over 40% of global M&A activity.
– US M&A volume rose 24% to $1.474 trillion in the year.
– M&A deals in Europe have jumped 33% to reached $1.36 trillion in the year to date, topping the previous record of $1.2 trillion in 1999.
– The UK is the most targeted European country for acquisitions, with $339 billion of cross-border and domestic transactions.
– There were a 157 worldwide hostile acquisitions, with a cumulative value of $498 billion, up 87% from 2005.
– Goldman Sachs was the top global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisor of 2006, advising on deals worth over $1 trillion. Citigroup came in second place with over $900 billion of transaction value.
– In Europe, Morgan Stanley claimed the top spot with over $482 billion of M&A advisory fees.
– In terms of total M&A fee income, Goldman Sachs dominated the global, US and European rankings, earning an estimated $2.1 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2005 in advisory fees.
– Prominent deals during the year included the $16.5 billion takeover of Mellon Financial Corp by Bank of New York Co Inc, and the $8 billion acquisition of YouTube by Google Inc.