Global M&A Growth Stalls Again in H1 2012

LONDON, June 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Private equity continues to underperform

Zephyr reports on M&A and private equity activity in H1 2012

Click here to see the full H1 2012 Global M&A Report

Global: page 1-14

Western Europe: page 15-25

North America: page 26-35

Asia/Asia Pacific: page 36-46

Middle East: page 47-57

The value of global deals fell 4 per cent to USD 1,474 billion in the first six months of 2012 from USD 1,531 billion, according to the latest M&A report from Zephyr, the M&A database. The figure represents the third consecutive drop in value which, although briefly reversed in H2 2010, continues the decline that began in H1 2009.

Growth in global M&A was further weakened by another poor result for private equity investment, which dropped for the third consecutive period to USD 121,431 million. However, the result was nowhere near as bad as the USD 70,346 million low reached in 2009.

Mirroring this result, North American deal value once again lost ground, falling by almost a quarter from USD 519,571 million to USD 392,811 million. This marked the region's third drop in a row, and indeed, was the lowest it has been for the last five years. Despite recording a couple of high value deals - the USD 38,000 million takeover of natural gas pipeline network El Paso by Kinder Morgan, and Capital One Financial's purchase of HSBC's credit card business - North American deal value accounted for only 27 per cent of global value.

The notable exceptions to the overall global downturn were Western Europe and the Middle East, which both performed well in H1 2012. The latter achieved particularly impressive results, especially given the current political climate in parts of the region, with 117 deals worth a combined USD 8,915 million, more than double the previous figure of USD 4,081 million at the end of last year. Private equity investment in the region was also strong, increasing from USD 84 million to USD 805 million. Western Europe experienced a 37 per cent upturn in deal value to USD 450,097 million, due in no small part to the Glencore-Xstrata tie-up worth USD 39,884 million.

To a slightly lesser extent, Asia Pacific and Central Asia also bucked the downward trend. The value of deals targeting businesses in the region increased by one per cent in H1 2012, from USD 435,475 million in H2 2011 to USD 441,122 million, continuing the fluctuation seen in previous years. Transaction numbers, on the other hand, were down, sliding 23 per cent from 10,364 to 7,983. This continued the downward momentum that began in H1 2010. The region's largest deal was a takeover of Singaporean property developer Brothers (Holdings) by Tung Xin Investment, which weighed in at USD 61,049 million, followed by a transaction that saw Heinz ABC Indonesia's US parent pay USD 54,800 million to increase its holding in the company from 55 to 65 per cent.

Notes to Editors:

1. Activity is based on the activity of the target country
2. The date range for H1 2012 is 01/01/2012 - 24/06/2012 inclusive
3. The sector breakdown uses targets' activities as defined to be 'Major Sectors' by Zephyr
4. The Western Europe region covers target companies in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
5. The Asia/Asia Pacific region covers target companies the Far East, Central Asia and Oceania.
6. The Middle East region covers target companies in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE and Yemen. It excludes Israel.

About Zephyr

Zephyr is an information solution containing M&A, IPO and venture capital deals and rumours with links to detailed financial company information. Zephyr covers various deal types including M&A activity, IPOs, joint ventures and private equity deals. It's published by Bureau van Dijk (BvD). The deals on Zephyr are linked to the company financials and peer reports on BvD's product range, which includes Orbis, Amadeus and Fame, for company valuation and benchmarking.

Zephyr contains information on over one million deals. Approximately 75,000 deals are added each year depending on levels of deal activity. Zephyr has no minimum deal value. All deal information is translated into English.  Zephyr's UK-based researchers speak 30 languages and use native language and English sources in their deal enquiries. http://www.zephyrdealdata.com

About Bureau van Dijk

Bureau van Dijk (BvD) is one of the world's leading publishers of electronic business and company information. The company has 30 offices worldwide. BvD is best known for its range of international company information products that combines multiple high-quality data sources with flexible software to allow users to manipulate data for research, marketing intelligence and analysis. Products include Fame, Orbis, Amadeus, Bankscope, Isis and Osiris. BvD also publishes the global M&A database, Zephyr. http://www.bvdinfo.com

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SOURCE Bureau van Dijk (BvD)