2022 Top 10 M&A, which one you involved?

In 2021, the M&A activities of global enterprises reached the peak. However, in 2022, with the inflation environment, M&A trend began to weaken with the rising uncertainty.

M&A activities include a wide range of private equity, venture capital funds, minority equity transactions, and SPAC (Special Purpose Trading Company),.

The third quarter of 2022 was the least active quarter in transactions since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, with a total transaction value of 443 billion US dollars, which decreased by 50% compared with the second quarter and 58% compared with the third quarter of 2021, ranking third in global M&A transactions since 2017.

According to Bloomberg, the total number of M&A transactions so far this year is $3.1 trillion as of October 28, which is 11% lower than the total annual M&A transactions in 2017 and 2020. Of course, including the transactions in the last two months, the annual total transaction volume in 2022 is still expected to exceed that in 2017 and 2020.

Due to the strength of the US dollar, trading activities in North America are more active, totaling 1.4 trillion US dollars, accounting for more than 47%; Indeed, the transaction volume in the Middle East and Africa is the second highest since 2017, while that in Asia is obviously shrinking, which is the least active since 2017.

In terms of industry, the software industry became the largest industry in the field of mergers and acquisitions for the 10th consecutive quarter in Q3 2022, but after Q2 reached an unprecedented $178 billion, it suddenly dropped by 49% to $91.4 billion in Q3. With the influence of layoffs, geopolitics and macro environment, the software industry may lose its throne in 2023. Real estate REITS business services and the rest of the Internet sector have seen significant declines in transactions. In addition, M&A activities in the energy industry have increased significantly.

Here are the top 10 transactions proposed in 2022 by transaction amount (without SPACs)

1. $Broadcom(AVGO)$Acquisition$VMware(VMW)$, the transaction value is 70.2 billion US dollars, and the stock + cash payment;
2. $Microsoft(MSFT)$Acquisition$Activision Blizzard(ATVI)$, with a transaction value of $68 billion and all-cash payment;
3. India HDFC Bank acquired Indian real estate development financing, with a transaction value of 57.8 billion US dollars and all-stock payment;
4. Schema Alfa buys Italy$Atlantia SPA(ATASF)$, $45 billion, all-cash acquisition (completed);
5. $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$President Elon Musk Personal Acquisition$Twitter(TWTR)$The transaction value is 36.7 billion US dollars, and the all-cash acquisition (completed);
6. $Merck(MRK)$Acquisition of Seattle Gene$Seagen(SGEN)$, with a transaction value of $35 billion and an all-cash acquisition;
7. $Amgen(AMGN)$Acquisition$Horizon Pharma PLC(HZNP)$, with a transaction value of $27 billion and an all-cash acquisition;
8. $Prologis(PLD)$ buys $Duke(DRE)$, $26.3 billion, all-stock acquisition (completed);
9. $Kroger(KR)$Acquisition$Albertsons Companies, Inc.(ACI)$, with a transaction value of $25.3 billion and an all-cash acquisition;
10. $Adobe(ADBE)$Acquisition of Figma, the transaction is worth 20 billion US dollars, and it is an all-cash acquisition

In addition, there are some mergers and acquisitions that have already made offers before 2022, or are small in amount but influential in the industry. Including:

1. $Oracle(ORCL)$Acquisition$Cerner(CERN)$, with a transaction value of $28.3 billion;
2. $JetBlue Airways(JBLU)$Acquisition$Spirit Airlines(SAVE)$, with a transaction value of $3.8 billion;
3. $CVS Health(CVS)$Acquisition$Signify Health, Inc.(SGFY)$, worth $8 billion;
4. $Amazon.com(AMZN)$Acquisition of One Medical, with a transaction value of 3.9 billion US dollars;
5. $Alphabet(GOOG)$Acquisition$Mandiant(MNDT)$The deal was worth $5.6 billion

When a big company buys a big company, there will often be more legal procedures to go, which will also become the focus of attention of the whole industry.

$Apple(AAPL)$'s acquisitions have always been cautious and generous, acquiring about 100 companies in the six years before 2022, although only a small number of them need to be made public.

This year, Apple has hardly participated in any major acquisitions, only buying vertical start-ups in the music industry at the beginning of the year.

Apple, on the other hand, has worked very hard to buy back its own shares, with the amount of buybacks reaching more than $20 billion every quarter. Therefore, it is not that Apple can't buy big companies, but that the best "acquisition" for Apple is its own stock.

Among these big mergers and acquisitions, which one do you like best?