U.S. M&A Market: 5 Trends From The Month Of May
In its monthly U.S. M&A News and Trends repot, FactSet Research Systems provides an update on the space. The note highlights a few trends seen over the past few months.
1. Overall Activity
M&A deal activity in the U.S. fell 6.3 percent in May, which saw 903 announcements versus April’s 964. Nonetheless, aggregate M&A spending rose as May saw spending double in comparison to April.
2. Sector Trends
Over the past three months, sectors that witnessed the largest year-over-year increases in M&A activity were Technology Services (526 vs. 477), Distribution Services (173 vs. 129), Finance (411 vs. 370), Health Services (144 vs. 125) and Communications (42 vs. 30).
In the past three-month period, the largest year-over-year declines were registered in the Commercial Services (443 vs. 476), Consumer Services (207 vs. 234), Producer Manufacturing (171 vs. 195), Consumer Non-Durables (68 vs. 86), and Industrial Services (101 vs. 117) sectors.
3. Deals By Size
The biggest deals announced last month were:
Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR)’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE: TWC) for $55 billion.
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) offer of $44 billion to purchase Syngenta AG (ADR) (NYSE: SYT).
Avago Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ: AVGO)’s deal to buy Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) for $35 billion.
Williams Companies Inc (NYSE: WMB)’s agreement to get its hands on the remaining 42 percent it did not own Williams Partners LP (NYSE: WPZ) for $13.8 billion.
Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) purchase of Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) for $13.6 billion.
U.S. private equity activity rose 2.2 percent month-over-month in May.
4. A Geographic Look
The report found, “Canadian firms were the biggest buyers of U.S. companies in May. They announced 30 deals for the month, with U.K. companies in second with 19 deals, followed by Japan, China, and Germany.”
5. Top Advisors
The top financial advisors for this year, based on deal announcements and “the aggregate transaction value of the deals" worked on: Goldman Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup.
The top legal advisors for 2015 include, but are not limited to, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, among others.
Latest Ratings for CHTR
May 2015 | JP Morgan | Maintains | Neutral | |
May 2015 | Wunderlich | Upgrades | Hold | Buy |
May 2015 | Canaccord Genuity | Maintains | Buy |
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