Worldwide Mergers and Acquisitions Still Bottoming Out
ZEW-Zephyr M&A-Index
(PresseBox) (Mannheim, )During the second quarter of 2010, 1,553 transactions with a total value of 208 billion Euro had been completed worldwide, compared to 1,693 transactions with a total value of 200 billion Euro in the first quarter. "Despite the high liquidity, investors Press release follow a wait and see strategy and watch out for attractive opportunities. This delays a substantial recovery of the worldwide M&A market. The risk of the market anticipated by the investors will be decisive for the future development", says Mark Schwerzel, International Director BvD. "Until then, strategic takeovers and trade sales will dominate." Trade sales are the sale of a mostly young firm by the management and participating private equity or venture capital firms to a strategic investor.
The ZEW-Zephyr M&A Index is calculated by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) and Bureau van Dijk (BvD) and tracks the development of mergers and acquisitions transactions conducted worldwide since 2000. The calculation is based on both the number and the volume of mergers and acquisitions concluded worldwide, as recorded in BvD's Zephyr Database. The index uses the monthly rates of change of both the volume and value of M&A transactions, combined and adjusted for volatility and inflation. As a result, the index offers a much more precise picture of the level of M&A activities in the world than can be attained by observing transaction values alone. The reason for this is that a firm's value on the stock exchange has a strong influence on the transaction value, particularly as many acquisitions are paid for by means of an exchange of shares. Consequently the share prices could have a disproportionately strong influence on estimating the trends in M&A transactions. If, however, the total value is spread over a larger volume of transactions within a month, the value of the M&A Index increases although the aggregate transaction value remains unchanged.