Merger activity decreased last week with five new deals announced and five deals completed.
M&A activity continues to increase with 115 deals announced in the first half of this year. Over 70 of these deals were multi-billion dollar deals. Some of the largest deals that have been announced this year include Microsoft’s (MSFT) acquisition of Nuance (NUAN), Thermo Fisher’s acquisition of PPD (PPD), Canadian National Railway’s (CNI) acquisition of Kansas City Southern (KSU), UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) acquisition of Change Healthcare (CHNG), Realty Income’s (O) acquisition of VerReit (VER), Rogers Communications’ (RCI) acquisition of Shaw Communications (SJR), Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of ProofPoint (PFPT), and Icon’s purchase of PRAH Health Sciences (PRAH).
“Corporate and private acquirers have set a blistering pace for megadeals — transactions of at least $5 billion — and at this tempo, 2021 would top not only 2020 but also the volumes of the past several years. Megadeals have included several mergers with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), as well as the largest leveraged buyout in a decade.”
Another multi-billion dollar deal announced last week was the acquisition of Atotech Limited (ATC) by MKS Instruments (MKSI). Founded in 1851 in Berlin and headquartered in West Bromwich, United Kingdom, Atotech is a specialty chemicals company that provides surface-finishing solutions to various industries across the world. We added ATC to our list of potential deals in the works on June 11, 2021 when semiconductor equipment maker MKS Instruments (MKSI) approached Atotech with an acquisition offer to expand its chip manufacturing capabilities. The cash plus stock deal was announced on Thursday last week.