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In spite of the uncertainty surrounding the meat processing sector in Ireland, M&A activity involving participants within the sector has continued apace in 2017, with the conclusion of some notable deals. Now, whilst there is a whole host of reasons underpinning this M&A activity, a number of common themes are evident, with the continued push for scale being the first. In an industry where operating margins are traditionally tight, top-line growth is… Read More
In a much-talked-about piece in the New York Times recently, Hernan Cristerna, Co-Head of Global M&A at JP Morgan Chase, diagnosed the global mergers and acquisitions market as alive and very much kicking – in spite of ongoing Brexit anxieties and considerable political uncertainty around the Trump administration. Cross-border European-US transactions have already increased by over 80% this year, with some truly blockbuster deals counting among them such as Johnson & Johnson’s… Read More
Following our report last month on the $130bn mega-merger between US chemical giants Dow Chemical and DuPont, a new deal has announced the creation of a chemicals giant with a market value of approx $14 billion. This latest high-profile transaction across the diversified chemicals sector sees companies are striking ever more aggressive deals to find new ways to slash costs and gain greater scale of their segments, typifying the current market trend… Read More
7-Eleven Inc, the premier name and largest chain in the convenience-retailing industry, recently announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Sunoco LP. As part of the agreement, 7-Eleven will acquire approximately 1,108 convenience stores located in 18 states. The acquisition of Sunoco’s gasoline convenience stores sees an increased investment from the Japanese retail store owner Seven & i Holdings Co in the US. This is Seven & i’s… Read More
Political and economic uncertainty caused pharma M&A to slacken off in 2016, seeing deal values in the sector falling to $273.7bn from $392.4bn the previous year. While 2016 was far from catastrophic for pharma M&A it failed to reach the all-time highs achieved from the mega-deals in 2015, and the collapse of the $160bn mega-deal between Pfizer and Allergan was just one of the year’s setbacks for the sector. Despite this, M&A… Read More
In a deal that could fetch up to $3bn, McDonald’s China is set to be purchased by Citic Group Corp, the Chinese conglomerate, coupled with a US-based private equity group Carlyle. The announcement follows a mixed 2016 for the China franchise of the world’s largest fast-food chain, after struggling to attract investors when it announced it was offloading its Chinese locations in the first half of last year. The deal will see… Read More
Chinese Olympians managed to scoop a total of 26 gold medals at the Rio Olympic Games. Although the country’s medal haul was not enough to match its astonishing tally in Beijing in 2008, China finished a commendable third place behind the US and the UK in the medal table. While being usurped by teams USA and GB may have been disappointing for China, when it comes to M&A the country has its… Read More
In just six months, China has already beaten its outstanding M&A record in overseas deals from 2015. Last year, Chinese investors put forwards $111bn within foreign M&A deals and have, so far, spent $111.6bn in 2016. Contributing to almost 40 per cent of this year’s figure was the $43bn bid for Swiss Syngenta by China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina). The deal marked the largest ever foreign purchase by a Chinese firm, however,… Read More