UK firms are still M&A targets despite fall in global dealmaking
GLOBAL merger and takeover deals have fallen in value every quarter this year as torrid markets and gloomy economic expectations put pressure on companies, Dealogic data shows.
M&A deals worth $633bn (£405bn) closed in the third quarter, a fifth lower than a year earlier.
But early gains this year mean 2011 is so far still better for M&A deals than both 2009 and 2010. M&A deals worth almost $2.2 trillion closed in the first nine months of the year, up from $2 trillion a year earlier.
UK dealmaking also proved resilient, with 559 deals worth $45bn closing in the past three months, an 80 per cent rise on a year ago. UK third-quarter M&A accounted for 7.1 per cent of the global market.
Mergermarket said M&A was up 21.5 per cent to $1.8 trillion this year.