US dealmaking at record year-to-date high

[LONDON] Dealmaking in the United States has made its strongest start to a year since Reuters records began in 1980, climbing 52 per cent year on year to US$746.9 billion in the Jan 1 to May 28 period.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity was boosted this week when Charter Communications said it would acquire larger rival Time Warner Cable for US$56 billion and Avago Technologies agreed to buy rival chipmaker Broadcom Corp for US$37 billion.

The Time Warner deal also propelled cable M&A up 42 per cent year on year to US$97.2 billion.

Morgan Stanley, which advised Time Warner Cable on its second approach from Charter Communications, along with Citi, Allen & Co and Centerview, tops the list of US M&A advisers.

Global M&A activity is up 35 per cent from the same period in 2014, with US$1.7 trillion of deals having been struck.

REUTERS