January 19, 2017 2016 Global Industrials & Chemicals M&A Trend Report

A few key findings include:

• Despite a series of political shockwaves leading to market uncertainty, global Industrials & Chemicals’ M&A activity still managed to hit its highest level on Mergermarket record (2001). A total of 3,356 deals worth US$ 525.2bn makes it the most active sector based on deal count and up 11.3% in terms of deal value compared to 2015 (US$ 471.8bn)
• The US continued to dominate global Industrials & Chemicals activity last year, with 832 transactions valued at US$ 207.2bn, accounting for nearly 40% of the sector’s overall value. Bayer’s headline- grabbing US$ 65.3bn takeover of Monsanto contributed almost a third of the sector’s deal value. The deal also helped Germany boost its outbound activity to US$ 142bn. Germany’s appetite for outbound deals will likely continue into 2017 as German corporates take on the Industry 4.0 challenge – a government-backed initiative to unite technology within the manufacturing industry – according to Mergermarket intelligence
• Industrials & Chemicals in Europe (US$ 159.4bn, 1,404 deals) saw a 45.4% jump in terms of deal value compared to 2015 (US$ 110bn, 1,361 deals). Chinese investors in particular showed a growing appetite for Europe Industrials & Chemicals, leading to a record value of US$ 58.4bn with 55 deals. This however is expected to ease this year over protectionism concerns against Chinese buyers and domestic capital controls. As such, Chinese companies may avoid overseas acquisitions for now and focus on organic growth.

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