Global M&A deals hit all-time high of $4.86 trillion in 2015

2015 was a record year for global merger and acquisitions (M&A) as corporates announced deals worth $4.86 trillion and a significant portion of this came from Asia Pacific targeted deals, says a report.

According to global deal tracking firm Dealogic, global M&A volume at $4.86 trillion in 2015 was the highest on record for any year, surpassing the previous record of $4.61 trillion in 2007.

Moreover, this year’s total is a good 33 per cent higher than the last year.

In another first, the Asia Pacific targeted M&A broke the $1 trillion mark, reaching $1.16 trillion in 2015, and accounted for a record 24 per cent share of global M&A.

Sectorwise, healthcare was the top ranked sector in 2015 with $708.7 billion, up 62 per cent from 2014 when deals worth $436.3 billion were announced.

Technology was a close second with record high volume and activity ($697.4 billion by way of 9,038 deals), almost double 2014 volume ($326.1 billion). The four largest technology deals on record were all announced in 2015, led by Dell’s $66 billion bid for EMC, announced on October 1.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs ($1.76 trillion), Morgan Stanley ($1.49 trillion), JPMorgan ($1.48 trillion) and Bank of America Merrill Lynch ($1.12 trillion) all recorded their highest annual advisory volumes on record.

All these firms surpassed their previous M&A records set in 2007, the report added.