US Under Trump Leads on Global Dealmaking: FT

The United States is dominating in what the Financial Times calls a record-breaking boom in global mergers and acquisitions. “Ambitious deals by large companies ranging from drugmaker AbbVie to defence contractor United Technologies, to oil group Occidental Petroleum, have driven US activity,” reports a team for the Financial Times. “Buoyant stock markets and cheap financing in the debt markets have helped oil the wheels of a record first half in which $1.1tn worth of US corporate takeovers have been struck.” The United States accounts for about half of recent deals, with fewer cross-border deals due to increasing protectionism as well as concerns over financing, security and technology transfer. The article describes numerous deals and points out the 10 largest transactions were between firms in the same country. Deals were down in Africa and Asia Pacific, up in Africa and the Middle East. – YaleGlobal