Basic materials M&A hits seven-year high buoyed by chemicals deals
[LONDON] Worldwide dealmaking in the basic materials sector rose in July to a seven-year high, lifted by US fertiliser maker CF Industries' US$8 billion bid for some of Dutch firm OCI NV's North American and European, Thomson Reuters data shows.
So far this year, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) worth US$615.4 billion have been announced in Europe, the data shows, with the value of deals in basic materials climbing 90 per cent to US$96.5 billion from the same period last year.
Globally, the materials sector recorded US$217.1 billion worth of deals, a 45 per cent increase compared with a year ago.
Chemicals, which together with metals and mining dominated basic materials M&A this year, totalled US$103.8 billion worth of global deals, an all-time record so far.
The largest deal of the week was announced in the healthcare sector.
Dublin-based drugmaker Shire offered US$30 billion to buy Baxalta, a company spun-off by Baxter International. But the bid, which aimed to forge the leading global specialist in rare diseases, was rebuffed on Tuesday.
Worldwide M&A is up 41 per cent year-to-date versus the same period last year, with deals worth US$2,716 trillion having been struck so far.
REUTERS
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Banking & Finance
Nomura Q4 net profit jumps almost eight-fold on retail income surge
Japan frets over relentless yen slide as BOJ keeps ultra-low rates
Rescue pup to meme star: the real-life ‘Dogecoin’ dog
Zhang Ruijin slapped with 5 more charges days before guilty plea for earlier charges
Bank of Japan keeps rates steady, projects inflation staying near 2% in coming years
Weak yen pressures Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision