Companies bought and sold each other at a record pace in 2021, with 1,047 deals — each valued at more than $100 million — inked globally last year, according to a new study.
For comparison, in 2020, there were only 674 M&A deals done globally that had individual values of $100 million or more. Still, once companies buy other companies, it’s not necessarily all that good for business: The firms completing M&A deals last year outperformed competitors by just 1.4 percentage points when considering their stock prices compared to companies that didn’t engage in M&A activity, according to the Willis Towers study, which was done in conjunction with the Bayes Business School in London.
“Deal speed, preparation and quality due diligence will be essential if deal makers’ expectations are to be met,” he said.Bloomberg via Getty Images