Global M&A deals at $701.5 bn in Q1; down 25 percent

New Delhi: Global merger and acquisition deals in the first quarter this year were worth USD 701.5 billion, down 25 percent, says a report by Dealogic.

According to the global deal tracking firm, after three successive quarters with more than USD 1 trillion deal value, the first quarter of this year saw transactions worth USD 701.5 billion.

In the January-March period of last year, the deal tally stood at USD 934.5 billion.

The US targeted M&A volume totaled USD 248.2 billion and accounted for 36 percent share of global M&A, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) targeted M&A stood at USD

217.9 billion (31 percent share) and Asia Pacific targeted M&A stood at USD 195.9 billion (28 percent).

Sector-wise, technology was the top ranked sector with USD 100.3 billion, followed by real estate with USD 69.5 billion, healthcare USD 58.7 billion and telecom USD 39.7 billion.

The report further noted that the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) targeted M&As stood at USD 161.4 billion, down 34 per cent from the first quarter of 2015, when transactions worth USD 244.7 billion were announced.

"Aside from the decrease, this is the third highest first quarter volume on record behind 2015 (USD 244.7 billion) and 2014 (USD 175.7 billion)," the report added.

Meanwhile, the global cross-border M&A volume of USD 302.6 billion is just behind the first quarter record high of USD 314.6 billion in 2015.

ChemChina's proposed USD 48 billion cash offer for Syngenta, announced on February 3, 2016, is one of the largest cross-border deals on record and is the largest Agribusiness targeted M&A transaction on record.

"Chinese companies were behind five of the top 15 cross-border deals announced in 2016, four of them with US targets, led by the USD 14.7 billion bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide by AnBang Insurance," the report said.

In terms of M&A advisory ranking Goldman Sachs topped the chart with USD 214.2 billion in January-March period, followed by JPMorgan (USD 153.1 billion) and UBS (USD 98.7 billion).