Global M&A market sees first positive performance in three years

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[{"type":"text","content":"Yet, North American deal makers had their worst quarterly performance since 2008\nARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global M&A market recorded its first positive performance in three years for completed deals, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dealmaking during 2020, as revealed by new M&A data from Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company.\n Based on share price performance, the latest results from Willis Towers Watson’s Quarterly Deal Performance Monitor (QDPM), run in partnership with the M&A Research Center at The Business School (formerly Cass), show that buyers outperformed the MSCI World Index1 in the third quarter of 2020, with a performance of +1.5 percentage points above the index. This is the first positive performance by acquirers since the third quarter of 2017 (+0.7 percentage points). However, deal volumes are at their lowest level in over a decade (since Q3 2009), with just 121 deals completed in the past three months. The ongoing economic impact and uncertainty caused by the global pandemic have continued to depress deal completions globally. “It is too early to interpret the flurry of announced deals in recent months as a sign that M&A is on the rebound,” said Duncan Smithson, senior director, M&A, Willis Towers Watson. “Our research on completed deals and their performance provokes a more cautious response. With the volume of completed deals at its lowest in a decade, performance of North American deals at rock bottom, fueled by an enduring pandemic, economic and political uncertainty, buyers need to be both bold and careful.” Key findings from the QDPM data include: North American M&A performance is at rock bottom. Deal makers in North America had their worst quarterly performance since the QDPM Index launched in 2008. They significantly underperformed their regional index by –8.6 percentage points, with 52 deals completed in the third quarter of 2020, and jointly completed the lowest number of deals since 2009 (on par with the second quarter of 2020).European acquirers are resilient. Buyers in Europe are currently +20.4 percentage points above their regional index with 30 deals closing in the third quarter of 2020. This is the first time in two years that Europe has recorded four consecutive quarters of positive performance...

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