"Down 11% on 1H18 but up 17% on 2H18 by value"
Submitted by Acuris, a partner of the M&A Leadership Council 

Mergermarket, an Acuris company, has released its Global M&A roundup for the first half of 2019 (1H19), including its financial advisors league tables. Take a look at the report HERE and don’t forget to review the charts breaking down the activity by sector, value, year-to-year analysis, etc. 

A few key findings include:

• Down 11% on 1H18 but up 17% on 2H18 by value, global M&A activity would appear to have found its post-peak cruising speed in 1H19, recording USD 1.80tn worth of deals (across 8,201 transactions). But beneath the surface and the headline numbers, deep currents affecting the global economy have started to shift M&A trends in new directions
   
• Perhaps the most significant shift lies in the geographical distribution of dealmaking. At 53.2% so far this year, the US takes its largest share of global M&A value on Mergermarket record. This has as much to do with strong levels of activity in the US – up 14.6% by value from the comparable period last year – as with the weak performances of both Europe and Asia – down 38.8% and 34.2% respectively
   
• Amidst the ongoing trade war and calls to regulate the Big Tech, US M&A continued to expand value-wise, reaching USD 957.3bn across 2,530 deals in 1H19, up 14.6% by value from the comparable period last year (USD 835.6bn and 3,201 deals in 1H18) and up 35% from 2H18 (709.1bn, 3061 deals). As a result, 1H19 was the second highest-valued half-year period on Mergermarket record (since 2001), behind only 2H15 (USD 973.5bn

Again, you can download the report HERE.