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Benchmark International Again Among The Leaders In 2023 Pitchbook M&A Rankings

Benchmark International is proud to be recognized again as one of the most active leaders in the M&A industry by Pitchbook, the leading resource for comprehensive data, research, and insights spanning global capital markets.

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Cross Border Deals Soar in the North West

Posted on February 21, 2019 By in Cross-Border M&A + US M&A + UK M&A

Cross border deals involving North West companies have doubled over the past year according to research conducted by Deloitte in partnership with Experian Corpfin.

The volume of deals increased from the 59 in 2017 to 120 in 2018, with value up 450% from £1.2bn spent in 2017 to £6.6bn in 2018.

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Four Trends in the US Private Equity Industry You Should Know About

Posted on November 19, 2018 By in US M&A + Private Equity

There has been a surge in US private equity (PE) dealmaking throughout 2018 – 3,501 deals worth $508.8B closed, with the majority of transactions occurring in the third quarter. But what have been the trends in this industry and what has caused the increase in dealmaking?

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Midterm Elections: The Results Are In, What Do They Mean for M&A?

Posted on November 9, 2018 By in US Business + US Election + US M&A + Business Tips

The 2018 midterm elections have presented little in the way of surprises this go around. As predicted, the Democratic Party took hold of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2010. The growth of Democratic representatives taking hold in Congress and some changes in historically Republican districts could be indicative of what’s to come in the 2020 Presidential campaign. 

It might not be as easy as first anticipated for Trump to remain at the top of the pyramid. Amidst some talk of a coming “blue tsunami,” this election may not have brought an overwhelming surge of Democratic leadership taking the helm, but there is no denying that the political party is coming ashore. What does this new shift in power and presence of a check on the executive branch mean for business owners considering a sale? 

Not knowing what’s to come in 2020 presents a feeling of uncertainty. With the results of the midterm elections, this feeling is heightened. Uncertainty is one of the most hindering factors for M&A activity. Investors are hesitant to make significant investments if they are unsure about future changes to fiscal policy. Thankfully, low interest rates and the tax cuts have contributed to a healthy M&A market producing high valuations for exiting business owners the last few years. The now divided Congress reduced the chances of any changes in policies that would significantly impact the market conditions before 2020. Unless we see significant bipartisanship, the most likely outcome is gridlock, which is good for the markets in the short-term. 

However, as the 2020 elections get closer the uncertainty will increase significantly. Rising interest rates combined with uncertainty in 2020 will likely put a halt to the favorable conditions sellers have enjoyed. This makes waiting to see who wins the 2020 elections quite the gamble if business owners are considering a full or partial sale before 2024 or even later. Owners must think hard about their plans for the next several years to avoid entering the market at the wrong time, which would bring haunting memories for many business owners going through the process from 2008 to 2013. 

Benchmark International specializes in facilitating exit and growth strategies for business owners in the lower middle market. The most important factor in achieving a successful exit is going to market when the market is strong and the business is ready. If an exit is at all in sight, it is critical now more than ever for business owners to speak to an M&A advisor and begin implementing a strategy because the market conditions will be changing very soon. 

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US Hive of Deal Activity from Increasing Outbound Investment

Statistics for H2 2018 have shown that the US is a hotspot for deal activity as it has been the recipient of increasing outbound investment, particularly within North West England as, according to Deloitte, nearly 40 per cent of the North West’s transactions involved a US company.

The US’ position as an attractive prospect for investment was highlighted by the A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index’s 2018 report, as it topped the table for FDI for the sixth consecutive year, as well as secured a higher score than the previous year.

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Hewlett Packard Sees Acquisitions As Integral to Growth

California-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise has been busy bolstering its portfolio to stay ahead in cloud computing, with even more acquisitions on the horizon.

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Chemical Giants Set For $14 billion Merger

After years of approaches, US-based Huntsman Corp and Switzerland’s Clariant AG have announced that they will merge to create a chemicals manufacturer worth more than $14 billion.

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Amazon.com to acquire Whole Foods Market Inc

Amazon has announced it will acquire upmarket grocer, Whole Foods Market Inc, for $13.7 billion in a deal that includes the company's debt. Expected to close late 2017, the deal will not only be the largest in the online retailer’s history, but also a major step in expanding into bricks-and-mortar retail.

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Microsoft Continues to Look to Israel for Cyber Safety

American computing giant Microsoft continues to expand its acquisitions of Israeli-based software companies, with a reported $100 million deal for cybersecurity start-up Hexadite.

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Apple Continues Acquisition Trail with Lattice.io

Following news last week that Apple had completed a deal to acquire sleep-tracking device company Beddit, the tech behemoth has completed yet another acquisition in the form of Lattice.io.

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Chemicals Sector Continues to Remain Buoyant

Following our report last month on the $130bn mega-merger between US chemical giants Dow Chemical and DuPont, a new deal has announced the creation of a chemicals giant with a market value of approx $14 billion.  This latest high-profile transaction across the diversified chemicals sector sees companies are striking ever more aggressive deals to find new ways to slash costs and gain greater scale of their segments, typifying the current market trend for companies to cut costs and boost revenue.

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Apple Gets Into Beddit With Latest Acquisition

Last week it was revealed that Apple had completed a low-key deal to acquire Beddit, a Finnish company that makes sleep-tracking devices compatible with apps for both iOS and the Apple Watch.

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Coach Bags Kate Spade

New York design house of modern luxury accessories and lifestyle brands, Coach Inc has acquired its rival Kate Spade & Company for $2.4 billion, a figure “not justified strictly by the numbers” according to the New York Times.

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An Apple/Disney Merger on the Cards?

Apple has hit the headlines this week with the media speculating whether or not they are set for a mammoth acquisition due to its significant and ever-growing stash of cash.

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Becton Dickinson acquires C.R. Bard in $24 billion deal

In the biggest deal of the company’s 120-year history, medical device giant Becton, Dickinson & Company has announced its acquisition of C.R. Bard for $24 billion.

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Best in Show: PetSmart to Acquire Chewy in Record Breaking Deal

This week, PetSmart announced its intention to acquire fast-growing pet food and product site Chewy.com in a deal alleged to fetch $3.35 billion, surpassing Walmart’s $3.3 billion purchase of Jet.com to become the biggest e-commerce deal ever.

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Most Important Deal of the Day: Post Holdings Acquires Weetabix

Following months of speculation, it was confirmed last week that US cereal giant Post Holdings is to acquire British cereal company Weetabix in a deal worth £1.4 billion.

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Dow and DuPont get EU go-ahead

The $130bn mega-merger between US chemical giants Dow Chemical and DuPont has been given the go-ahead by the European Commission. Earlier this year, it was announced that the deal would be subject to an investigation from EU competition regulators due to antitrust concerns.

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Walmart pushes further into online retail market with new acquisition

It’s no secret that Walmart has grand plans to muscle in on some of Amazon’s online retail market share and it seems the US retail giant has edged closer with the acquisition of ModCloth.

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Pinterest Acquires Crowdsourced Q&A Startup

Pinterest, the photo sharing site, has announced this week its acquisition of Jelly, the Q&A app founded by Biz Stone, cofounder of Twitter, in 2013.

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A whopper of an acquisition: Burger King owner purchases Popeyes

The appetite for M&A in the fast food industry shows no sign of waning following news that Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. has been acquired by the owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons.

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Yahoo! and Verizon update: What’s going on?

When it comes to M&A security breaches can be costly in more ways than one. Yahoo!’s expectations of a smooth transition in the Verizon takeover have been scuppered with the news that the acquiring company was not prepared to offer the full asking price.

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Collapsed Cigna and Anthem Merger Goes To Court

Earlier this month, the health insurance organisation Cigna Corp. announced the termination of its $54bn merger agreement with insurance company Anthem Inc. The deal has taken a further complicated turn, after Cigna announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Anthem seeking a $1.85bn termination fee, plus a staggering $13bn in damages. In an interesting twist, Anthem has launched its own lawsuit against Cigna, claiming the company has sabotaged the merger in its attempts to breach the agreement and collapse the $48bn deal.

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Split the bill: Airbnb rumoured to be acquiring Tilt

Ealrier this month, The Information reported that Airbnb is in talks to acquire social payments start-up Tilt, a move that would allow the users of the home share service to split the cost of their trips.

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A Whole New World (of streaming): Disney to acquire Netflix?

We’re just over a month into 2017 and already rumours are circulating about a magical mega deal set to take place this year. Despite the lack of evidence to back-up a Disney acquisition of Netflix, there has been much discussion throughout the industry about whether such an acquisition can and will actually happen.

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It was October Dealfest at Benchmark International!

October was a fantastic month for Benchmark International and we are proud to announce that our teams in the UK and US have completed deals with an overall, combined transaction value of $160,000,000.

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