Deal-making depends on confidence in boardrooms. With equity markets appearing to falter, and the US in danger of starting a global trade war, you might expect CEOs to be sitting on their hands. Yet the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) frenzy of the past few years just keeps going. In the first half of 2018, the value of global M&A reached $2.5trn, a 65% jump on the same period last year and a first-half record. The US media and telecoms sectors led the charge.
M&A has looked healthy all over the world, however, as Ben Dummett points out in The Wall Street Journal. Europe registered a 58% annual rise in dealmaking. Companies continue to seek out new sources of growth and cut costs despite the increasingly uncertain environment.
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ONS: UK house prices hit by September slump amid Autumn Budget uncertaintyThe latest Land Registry data shows Budget rumours are hitting the UK housing market
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Young pension savers expect to ‘need £100,000 plus a year’ for a good retirementSome under 40s are aiming high for their pensions, reckoning they will need a pot big enough to generate six figures a year in retirement income, according to new research. Those much closer to taking their pension expect to need far less.
