North America came back to dominate global M&A activity in Q2 2012, accounting for 42% of global announced deal value resulting from a number of deal bids in the region.

After falling for four consecutive quarters, recent global bid activity shows that M&A is once again on the rise. This quarter’s M&A Tracker explores where and how.

Highlights: M&A deal activity in Q2 2012

• Global deal activity bounced back from a decade low in Q1 2012, with volume increasing by 10% quarter-on-quarter (q-on-q). Similarly, global announced deal value increased by 18% over the same period.
• Despite the positive trend, the current level of activity is still significantly lower than that during the same quarter last year, and the global M&A volume and value are currently 26% and 22% lower in comparison, respectively.
• North America came back to dominate global M&A activity in Q2 2012, accounting for 42% of global announced deal value resulting from a number of deal bids in the region.
• Amid continued political and financial turmoil, announced M&A deal volume in the Eurozone fell again in Q2 2012, with a drop of 17% q-on-q. This is the fourth consecutive fall in announced M&A volume.
• Completing deals in today’s market is increasingly difficult, as shown by the decrease in “speed of completion” by 16% q-on-q.

M&A volume and value

Source: The Ernst & Young M&A Tracker, compiled for Ernst & Young by MARC, the M&A Research Centre at Cass Business School.

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