On April 25, Mergermarket released its Q1 2017 Regional Flash Reports describing the M&A climate, trends and developments throughout the Americas during the first quarter of 2017.
The Canada’s Trend Report indicates that Canadian M&A has remained strong with 111 deals in Q1 2017 worth US$ 35.8bn. This is a robust start for 2017 as compared to the 151 deals in Q1 2016 representing US $17.1bn, and is in line with the trend of higher valuations for fewer deals as seen across the globe. The top Canadian sector for Q1 2017 was Energy, Mining and Utilities (EMU) with 28 deals worth US$ 26.3bn.
Top sectors for other regions across the Americas were reported to be Pharma, Medical & Biotech (PMB), EMU and Consumer, with EMU as a whole being the top global sector.
The New England region reported 99 deals worth US$ 14.2bn in Q1 2017 representing a 15.1% increase in comparison to Q1 2016. The top sector in this region was PMB which saw a 12.5% increase in value compared to Q1 2016.
The Mid-Atlantic region saw 188 deals worth US$ 45bn in Q1 2017 representing an increase of 84% as compared to the first quarter in 2016. The top sector was EMU, which dominated the region with an increase of almost 27 times the value from Q1 2016.
The Southeast region saw 194 deals worth US$ 83.1bn in Q1 2017 representing an increase in value of 198.2% compared to Q1 2016 notwithstanding a decrease in the number of deals. The top sector for this region was Consumer with a deal value of US$ 60.9bn.
The Midwest region reported 247 deals with a value of US$ 42.7bn in Q1 2017 which represented a loss in value as compared to the record high seen in Q1 2015 of US$ 122.5bn. The top sector in this region was Consumer with 28 deals worth US$ 22.3bn.
The Southwest region reported 191 deals worth US$ 85.7bn in Q1 2017 representing an increase in value of 66.8% as compared to Q1 2016. EMU was the top sector dominating the region with a value of US$ 66.9bn representing a 125.2% increase compared to last year’s first quarter.
The West Coast region saw 255 deals worth US$ 33.7bn in Q1 2017 representing a decrease in value of 8.4% compared to Q1 2016. PMB was the top sector for the region with 30 deals worth US$ 14.9bn.
Latin America reported a decrease in deal value for Q1 2017 as compared the last year’s first quarter, with a value of US$ 13.2bn. The leading sector for this region was Consumer with 17 deals worth US$ 4.3bn.
Overall, Mergermarket’s Flash Reports have indicated a strong start for M&A in Q1 2017 with deal values on the rise for the majority of regions across the Americas.
The author would like to thank Nicole Buchanan, Articling Student, for his assistance in preparing this legal update.
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