Ernst & Young: UK M&A values plummet over 65% in 2012

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

The slowdown in UK M&A continued throughout 2012, with the value of deals falling 66% from the height of the M&A boom in 2007 and 36% in volume1, according to data analysis released by Ernst & Young.

Across the UK, total deal value reached $133.6bn, third highest in the world behind US and China, while volumes reached 2,284 – a 1% increase and 8% drop on 2011 respectively. Globally, deal value fell to half (-47%) of what it was in 2007 and was 21% down in volume1.

For UK businesses going on the acquisition trail cross border, the number of deals reached 900 and values hit $67.8bn, compared to 1628 deals at $362.5bn in 2007. In 2007, the UK accounted for the most outbound, cross border deals but has since fallen behind the US and Japan.

The rapid rise of M&A in the BRIC nations from 2007 to 2010 was not sustained in 2012 – but they still performed better than the Eurozone countries. In 2007, the BRIC nations accounted for just 7%4 of the global M&A market by value. In 2012 it is 15%5. The Eurozone in 2007 contributed 21% of the global value of M&A – that has now fallen to 11%6. Even if the rapid growth of BRICs over the previous few years wasn’t fully sustained in 2012, the transformation of the global M&A landscape is still clear: since 2007, the value of China’s M&A market has doubled, while the value of the US market has halved.10