Loans backing cross border M&A deals at record high

Despite a flurry of cancelled or withdrawn M&A transactions recently, the global M&A market remains very strong nearly eight months into 2018. Cross-border deals in particular have been especially robust with over US$1trln of announced transactions, an increase of 74% compared to the same time last year. In line with this momentum, loans backing cross border M&A deals are at a record high with over US$631bn of issuance hitting the calendar so far this year, a 7.5% increase over the same time last year. Despite the higher dollar totals, on a deal count basis, activity is down 14% as jumbo deals have made a comeback, but regulatory pushback and some signs of protectionism have caused a number of deals, including Broadcom’s takeover of Qualcom to stall.

Contact: Maria Dikeos
maria.dikeos@thomsonreuters.com