December’s $361 billion deal haul is busiest in a decade

Bloomberg

Just as most people are packing up for the holidays, dealmakers across the world are rushing to finish up a slew of transactions in industries ranging from consumer to telecom to health care.
Companies have announced about $361 billion of mergers and acquisitions this month, making it the busiest December in at least 12 years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Just before the Christmas weekend, GVC Holdings Plc of the UK agreed to buy bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral Group Plc for as much as 4 billion pounds ($5.4 billion), Deutsche Telekom AG said it will buy Liberty Global Plc’s Austrian unit and Roche Holding AG announced the
$1.7 billion acquisition of US biotech Ignyta Inc.
“We have announced three new takeover deals in November, and we have worked on a range of M&A continuing through the holiday,” said Gavin Davies, global head of M&A at law firm Herbert Smith Freehills in London. “Clients want to get deals done, for growth, for rationalisation, and to get ahead of tech disruption, and they are working hard to make those deals happen, despite a more challenging political and economic M&A environment.”
Europe has been a hot spot for M&A this year on the back of a more stable economic outlook and growing confidence.
This month, Unibail-Rodamco SE, Europe’s largest commercial landlord, agreed to buy Australia’s Westfield Corp. for about $16 billion, while French aerospace specialist Thales SA struck a deal for cybersecurity provider Gemalto NV for about $5.6 billion, outbidding Atos SE.
Still, the US has seen the biggest transactions in December, led by CVS Health Corp.’s $67.5 billion purchase of Aetna Inc., creating a health-care
giant that will have a hand in everything from insurance to the corner drugstore. Also in December, Walt Disney Co. agreed to acquire a large portion of media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Inc. in a $52.4 billion deal.
“Low economic growth continues to be a key driver for deal making, and signs of interest-rate rises—albeit gradual— may be encouraging buyers to move sooner rather than later,” said Katherine Moir, an M&A partner at law firm Clifford Chance in London.
Asia and Latin America also were active in the run-up to Christmas. Boeing Co. is considering a combination with Brazil’s Embraer SA, setting the stage for a potential blockbuster deal in the aviation industry. UnitedHealth Group Inc. agreed to buy Chilean insurer Banmedica SA for about $2.8 billion.
The busy end of the year may spill over to January and beyond, especially in Europe, according to Cathal Deasy, head of M&A for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Credit Suisse Group AG.
“Against a backdrop of strong macro fundamentals in Europe, boardroom confidence and
supportive capital markets, we are positive on the outlook for European M&A in 2018,” said Deasy.
“The strong finish to 2017 gives us further conviction.”