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Global Thought Leadership:

BDO Horizons 2019 - Issue 1

13 February 2019

BDO’s M&A quarterly, Horizons, marks 2018 as a year that ended with a lower volume of deals overall, despite a strong start of the year. In further analysis of mid-market M&A activity over the 2018 calendar year, the report signals a deviation from the usual M&A pattern, in which end of year deal volumes are typically higher than at the start of the year.

The last quarter of the year ended with a lower volume of deals than the preceding quarters, even dipping below 2,000 global mid-market deals in one quarter for the first time since the start of 2016. This was compounded by the overwhelming optimism due to the US tax reforms, high productivity and private equity dry powder tailing off throughout the year. Trade disputes, particularly between the US and China, saw fund managers slip into a ‘wait and see’ strategy.

A final confirmation that 2019 will be a seller’s market in mergers and acquisitions is the 189% rise of private equity firms in the market since 2000 - and the resulting stiffening of competition.

In India, a number of large value PE deals continued to increase, the total deal value in 2018 was USD 125bn nearly double that of 2017. The country continues to remain a robust market for international and domestic investments.

Published quarterly, BDO Horizons articles are authored by more than 20 BDO M&A specialists, providing invaluable insights into where investment is flowing and showcasing global deal activity. With topics ranging across regions and industry sectors, Horizons provides a satellite view, integrating impacts to the global economy and scoping out trends