Global mergers and acquisitions activity totalled USD881bn in the first half of 2010, up 7.8 per cent from the first half of 2009, a report by mergermarket shows.
Deal count is also up by 13.3 per cent at 5,026 announced deals.
Brunswick Group and FD were the leading PR advisers, by value and volume respectively, to global M&A in H1 2010. The firms also topped the European tables, while FD was the leader by volume in Asia Pacific (ex. Japan).
The US tables were led by Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher and Kekst and Company.
Private equity backed buyouts maintained a steady upward trend: activity is up 40.4 per cent from H1 2009 at USD75.1bn. However this is well off the H1 peak achieved in 2007 of USD570.7bn.
Private equity exits via trade sales and secondary buyouts are up 225 per cent from the lows achieved in H1 2009, at USD76.8bn.
Cross border transactions between regions made up 25.6 per cent of global M&A by value in H1 2010, the highest half year percentage since H1 2008. USD68.5bn of inbound M&A activity has been recorded in Europe, a 290 per cent increase from the same period in 2009.
Emerging markets saw USD241.1bn worth of deals announced in H1 2010, up 58.8 per cent compared to H1 2009.
The average Ebitda multiple across global M&A for H1 2010 is 14.7x, the highest since 2008. The highest valuations are found in Asia Pacific where the average Ebitda multiple is 21.5x. Meanwhile, the average premium paid on deals globally was 20.4 per cent, the lowest since 2007.
According to the report, 6.2 per cent of announced deals in 2010 have been valued over USD500m, the highest percentage since 2007. In addition, 312 deals have been announced so far this year with a deal value exceeding USD500m, compared to 185 for the same time period in 2009 – a 68.6 per cent increase.
European M&A increased during H1 2010 by 24.1 per cent compared to H1 2009 to reach USD240.3bn. Q2 alone was up 53.8 per cent compared to Q2 2009.
US M&A in H1 2010 was down 15.5 per cent from H1 2009, with a total of USD331.2bn worth of deals announced in the period. It was the lowest H1 period since 2003.
Asia Pacific announced USD137.2bn worth of deals in H1 2010, up 11.3 per cent from H1 2009. Deal count is also up by 20.9 per cent.
