M&A touched record levels in H1 2026, but the market was increasingly defined by scale rather than breadth. The total value of announced deals hit $2.85tn in the first six months (LSEG), up 50% YoY and the highest year-to-date total since LSEG records began in 1980. Yet the total number announced fell 9% to 24,000 so far in 2026, a six-year low.
Download PDF Introduction 2025 concluded with the resurgence of megadeals (transactions valued over $5bn), as encapsulated by headlines such as Netflix’s [NASDAQ: NFLX] $82.7bn bid for Warner Bros. Discovery [NASDAQ: WBD]. In contrast to Q4 2024, total deal value has increased by 127.6%, with M&A activity rising by 19.1% for Read more…
Download PDF Introduction 2025 began with cautious optimism about an uptick in M&A over the course of the year, however, it was challenged by higher than expected uncertainty around trade policies, geopolitical tensions and economic growth. Global M&A volumes declined by 9% in H1 2025 compared to H1 2024, while Read more…
Download PDF Introduction: The TMT sector focuses on Technology, Media and Telecommunications and is oftentimes the leading fee generating business unit for Investment Banks worldwide. From regional boutiques to large household names like Goldman Sachs, deals are fought over what is seemingly the sector we interface with the most in Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Several factors, including high inflation, high interest rates, and overall uncertainty in the market, resulted in a decline in M&A activity in 2023. Despite the rough year, Q4 2023 and the first two months of 2024 have shown that deal activity is due for a comeback. One Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The recent spin-off of DirectTV from AT&T marked the unceremonious end of an era in the American TMT arena almost as a ritual sacrifice to fully embrace the new wave of content-driven megadeals already underway since 2017. What is striking about this story is that, back in Read more…
Download PDF Welcome back from the winter break and happy 2021! According to JPMorgan, the outlook of M&A in 2021 is very positive. Indeed, mainly due to a reduction in political uncertainty, the development of vaccines and strong capital markets, there is increased confidence in management and board of directors, Read more…
Download PDF Introduction After stalling in winter and spring 2020 due to the coronavirus, M&A activity picked up over the summer, fuelled by a bullish stock market. The situation remains dire however: according to MergerMarket data, companies have struck €620bn worth of M&A deals in the three months Read more…
Download as PDF Introduction KKR, the massive American private equity (PE) fund, has agreed on the 10th of February, 2020, to sell the ultrafast German fiber internet business Deutsche Glasfaser in a €2.8bn deal to EQT and Omers, respectively a private equity firm and a Canadian pension fund. According to Read more…
Cellnex Telecom SA [CLNX: BME] – Mkt cap as of 19/10/19: €12.24bn Arqiva – not listed Introduction On the 8th of October 2019, Arqiva announced the sale of its Telecoms business (TowerCo) to Cellnex for £2bn, which Arqiva will use to reduce its leverage, currently standing at a debt-to-equity ratio Read more…
Introduction On November 7, Massive Interactive, a London-based OTT software provider, announced that it had signed an agreement to be acquired by Deltatre, a global provider of sports media services and technology in a transaction worth up to $127m. This transaction is an attempt by Deltratre to enter the entertainment Read more…
CommScope (NASDAQ: COMM) – market cap as of 16/11/2018: $3.55bn ARRIS International Plc (NASDAQ: ARRS) – market cap as of 16/11/2018: $5.32bn Introduction On November 8, 2018 CommScope, global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, announced the acquisition of modems and set-top boxes maker, ARRIS International Plc. for $7.4 Read more…
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) – market cap as of 03/10/18: USD 163.67bn Framework In order to further understand the dynamics behind the acquisition of Sky by Comcast, it’s useful to provide some context and shed some light on the series of events that started in the winter of 2016 and Read more…
Laird plc (LON: LRD) – market cap as of 09/03/18: £979.8 m Introduction On March 1, 2018, Advent International announced it will acquire the UK electronic components producer Laird plc for £1.2bn, or £2/share. The deal marks yet another conquest for private equity firms in search for viable targets to Read more…
Introduction In January 2018, M&A activity surpassed investors’ expectations. According to a report by law firm Baker McKenzie, global mergers and acquisitions are expected to hit an 18-year record, reaching $3.2 trillion in 2018. To the same extent, cross-border M&A is expected to reach new time highs. In the December Read more…