Experian Data Reveals a Drop in M&A Activity, But an Increase in Deal Value

Experian, an information services company, released its latest mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and equity capital market (ECM) data, revealing that the number of deals had fallen during 3Q10 for the UK and Europe, compared to 3Q09.

UK

• The total number of UK M&A and ECM transactions during 3Q10 fell by 22.7% compared to the same period last year – from 1,110 deals in 3Q09 to 859 deals in 3Q10.
• However, the total value of 3Q10 deals increased by 45.3% on 3Q09 – from £41.07bn to £59.67bn.
• Compared to the previous quarter (2Q10), the UK saw a 23% decrease in volume, but a 4.8% increase in value – from 1,115 deals worth £56.96bn to 859 deals worth £59.67bn.

Europe

• Europe saw a 25.1% decrease in the number of European M&A and ECM transactions announced during 3Q10 with only 2,140 deals compared to 2,858 transactions in 3Q09.
• Value however increased by 4.16% from £149.664bn in 3Q09 to £155.883bn in 3Q10.
• The change from 2Q10 revealed a 25% fall from 2,853 transactions and a 3.4% fall from the £161.358bn recorded.

Wendy Smith, business development manager at Experian Corpfin, said: “Although the UK returned to growth in the final quarter of 2009, the level of deal making in the UK since then has yet to reflect this. Deals tend to slow down during 3Q of any year, so quarter-on-quarter figures show a seasonal decline. However, the year-on-year view reveals that while some regions held up a little better than others, there was still decline in the volume of M&A and ECM activity overall. The UK still fared a little better than Europe, where there was a slightly larger decline in the volume and the value of deals also fell.”

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