LONDON: As companies brace for the impact of 2016’s political shocks and looming elections next year, global appetite for mega mergers may slow amid the prospect of increased protectionism.
The biggest transactions mostly involved buyers and sellers from different countries: Bayer AG’s acquisition of Monsanto Co in the US, China National Chemical Corp’s bid for Syngenta AG and SoftBank Group Corp’s purchase of ARM Holdings Plc. Cross-border deals accounted for more than half of acquisitions larger than US$25bil announced this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They also made up nearly half of the US$3 trillion in total announced deals, the data show.