Recent volatility hasn't dampened the urge to merge. On 9 September alone, $40bn worth of deals were announced worldwide, with a $12bn Hong Kong utility buyout leading the charge. August was the busiest month for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in American history.
Asian M&A now stands at $700bn for this year, the second-fastest pace for this stage in the cycle on record. Deal making has been strong across the board, with insurers the latest sector in the spotlight. Last week Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance took over Amlin, a Lloyds of London insurer.
Globally, M&A looks on track to reach $4.58trn, eclipsing the 2007 record of $4.3trn, says JDSupra.com. The frenzy has been driven by firms' big cash piles, low interest rates making it cheap to borrow to buy rivals, and gradually rising confidence. More and more firms "are pushing ahead with contentious hostile [unsolicited] bids", adds James Fontanella-Khan in the FT, another sign of the "robustness of the M&A cycle".
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
For example, pharmaceutical group Mylan has taken its offer for smaller rival Perrigo straight to the shareholders. There have been several short-term wobbles in the past few years, and none has seriously dented M&A. Unless the latest turbulence leads to "serious market disruption", deal-making should continue, notes Citi's Mark Shafir.
M&A follows the market, rather than leading it. Still, the two previous M&A peaks came before major downturns in 2000 and 2007. So all this dealmaking looks like another sign that the bull market is long in the tooth.
-
Should you invest in UK equities?The FTSE 100 hit a record high this week, but UK equities remain unloved and undervalued compared to their global and US peers. Should you snap them up at a discount?
-
State pension errors: DWP urged to check for mistakes among divorced peopleFormer pensions minister Steve Webb says there are a high number of divorced women on low state pensions. Now MPs want the DWP to check if there were any errors in “potentially underpaying men and women who are divorced”.
