Year of the mega-merger

Driven by megadeals between pharmaceutical, energy and consumer giants, and powered by cheap credit, the value of mergers and acquisitions in 2015 hit a record $4.59 trillion

Deal value ($ trillion)

Global mega-deals

5

67
18

4.59

2003-07:
Pre-crisis
credit boom

worth $10bn-plus
worth $30bn-plus

4.29

3.91

4

3.50

2.89

2.93

3

2.59

2.56

2.43

2.13

2.06

1.97

2

1.45

1

0

2003

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

Other

$30bn

Americas

$2.48

trillion

50 megadeals worth

$1.40 trillion

Asia-Pacific

$1.20

trillion

EMEA*

$880

billion

Eight megadeals

$171.8bn

Nine megadeals

$301.2bn

*Europe, Middle East and Africa

Biggest mergers and acquisitions

$107bn

Anheuser-Busch

InBev and SABMiller

$79.3bn

Royal Dutch

Shell and BG Group

$160bn

Pfizer and

Allergan

Sources: Dealogic, Thomson Reuters Mergers and Acquisitions Review

Year of the mega-merger

Driven by megadeals between pharmaceutical, energy and consumer giants, and powered by cheap credit, the value of mergers and acquisitions in 2015 hit a record $4.59 trillion

Global mega-deals

Deal value ($ trillion)

67
18

worth $10bn-plus
worth $30bn-plus

5

4.59

2003-07:
Pre-crisis
credit boom

4.29

3.91

4

3.50

2.59

2.93

2.89

2.56

3

2.43

2.13

2.06

1.97

2

1.45

1

0

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

50 megadeals worth

$1.40 trillion

Americas

$2.48

trillion

Asia-Pacific

$1.20

trillion

Eight megadeals

$171.8bn

EMEA*

$880

billion

*Europe, Middle East

and Africa

Nine megadeals

$301.2bn

Other

$30bn

Biggest mergers and acquisitions

$160bn

Pfizer and

Allergan

$107bn

Anheuser-Busch

InBev and SABMiller

$79.3bn

Royal Dutch Shell

and BG Group

Sources: Dealogic, Thomson Reuters Mergers and Acquisitions Review

Year of the mega-merger

Driven by megadeals between pharmaceutical, energy and consumer giants, and powered by cheap credit, the value of mergers and acquisitions in 2015 hit a record $4.59 trillion

Global mega-deals

67
18

worth $10bn-plus
worth $30bn-plus

Deal value ($ trillion)

5

4.59

4.29

3.9

4

3.5

2.6

2.9

2.1

2.6

3

2.4

1.9

2

1

0

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

Americas

$2.48

trillion

50 megadeals worth

$1.40 trillion

Asia-Pacific

$1.20

trillion

Eight megadeals

$171.8bn

EMEA*

$880

billion

*Europe, Middle East and Africa

Nine megadeals

$301.2bn

Other

$30bn

Biggest mergers and acquisitions

$160bn

Pfizer and

Allergan

$107bn

Anheuser-Busch

InBev and SABMiller

$79.3bn

Royal Dutch Shell

and BG Group

Sources: Dealogic, Thomson Reuters Mergers and Acquisitions Review