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JANUARY 2013
What’s happening in the world of M&as and IPos?
as we enter a brand new year, it is always nice to think that the year ahead might hold some positivity and the world’s M&a and IPo markets will enjoy an active and buoyant twelve months.
The December edition of the Robert W. Baird & Co. Global M&A Monthly states: “Through November, global M&A metrics continued to lag the solid results of 2011. The year-to-date transaction total decreased 3.9%. Reported dollar volume declined 5.2%, as weakness in the first three quarters of 2012 outweighed impressive growth in October-November.”
Taking a look at the U.S., the report showed that activity slowed considerably in the latter portion of the year. “The number of announced deals fell 14.3% to 788, the lowest total in two years,” Baird states. However, on a more positive note, the report goes on to say that ‘reported dollar volume climbed 57.8% to $80.6 billion’.
Moving on to Europe, according to Baird’s report, M&A activity ‘contracted again’ and the number of deals decreased by 27.6% to 703, which, according to the report, is the lowest level in over three years.
The deals reported in this month’s issue of Lawyer Monthly are varied and once again span a wide spectrum in terms of both industry and value. Featured deals this month include Bank of China Limited and Absa Capital’s establishment a Domestic Medium Term Note Programme, Diageo’s acquisition of a stake in United Spirits and Tangent’s acquisition of Goodprint.
With the global M&A market having seemingly ended 2012 on a slow and somewhat uneventful note, let’s hope that 2013 can bring better news. All we can do is watch and wait to see how the year will progress for this type of activity across the world, and stay positive. LM