Worldwide mergers and acquisitions activity was up 10 percent in the first quarter 2013, according to the Thomson Reuters quarterly report. Deals over US$5 billion accounted for 31 percent of M&A in the period.
Total values of M&A activity with U.S. involvement in the first quarter of 2013 fell 26.7 percent from the past quarter, but volumes were up significantly over first quarter 2012, reaching US$310.2 billion and representing a 67.7 percent increase in transaction value.
High technology sector led the U.S. market, followed by energy and power. On average, EBITDA multiples for targets in the Americas region in the first quarter were down slightly to 11X from the 11.1X in the first quarter of 2012. Average industry multiples ranged from 7.3X for materials to 24X for real estate targets.
The value of worldwide M&A was US$542.8 billion in the first quarter. More than 8,100 deals were announced worldwide, a 16 percent decline from a year ago and the slowest quarter for M&A by number of deals since the third quarter of 2004.
Cross-border M&A was down 24 percent, totaling US$134 billion in the first quarter and accounting for 25 percent of overall M&A volume. M&A involving companies in emerging markets was down 6 percent from 2012.
Energy & power sector was most active in the first quarter, with 13.4 percent of announced M&A, while real estate and high technology sectors accounted for 13.2 percent and 12.3 percent respectively.
Telecommunications and consumer staples led all sectors with their growth rates, with triple-digit increases from 2012.
Materials and energy & power registered declines of 62 percent and 21 percent from the first quarter 2012.
Buyside private equity M&A doubled from 2012, totaling US$117.4 billion in the first quarter 2013. Private equity deal-making in the high technology and consumer staples sectors accounted for two-thirds of activity in the first quarter 2013.
Private equity accounted for 22 percent of total worldwide M&A in the first quarter.
Get all the details from the first quarter 2013 report from Thomson Reuters.
