Global companies have stepped off the sidelines in recent months to pursue blockbuster takeovers of rivals, emboldening hopes of a comeback in mergers and acquisitions even as the overall number of deals sank to a nine-year low.
Some $2.3tn-worth of deals were announced in the first nine months of the year, according to data compiled by LSEG, up 17 per cent from the same period last year.
A sharp rise in megadeals drove the uptick, with high-profile transactions including Mars’s $36bn purchase of Pringles-maker Kellanova, Verizon’s $20bn acquisition of Frontier Communications and the €14.3bn sale of Deutsche Bahn’s logistics unit struck in recent weeks.