Industrial Manufacturing Deal Activity Picks Up in Second Half of 2013, According to PwC US
NEW YORK– Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the industrial manufacturing sector increased in the second half of 2013, with a 20% uptick in activity in the final six months of the year compared to the first half, according to Assembling Value, an annual analysis of global deal activity in the industrial manufacturing industry by PwC US. Despite that increase, the full year 2013 finished with 152 announced transactions for a total value of $59.7 billion, compared to all of 2012, which recorded 165 deals worth $84.8 billion.
While 2013 as a whole marks the second consecutive annual decline, deal activity in the second half of the year increased with 83 deals worth $35.7 billion versus 69 deals for $24 billion in the first half. The fourth quarter of 2013 recorded 40 transactions worth $50 million or more, totaling $9.7 billion, compared to 44 deals worth $20.3 billion in the same period last year.
“Similar to what we saw in our latest Manufacturing Barometer, caution was the predominant theme for manufacturers on the M&A front in 2013 as management teams remained highly selective in evaluating and pursuing deals,” said Bobby Bono, U.S. industrial manufacturing leader for PwC. “Deal activity was principally driven by horizontal consolidation within industrial machinery, as well as divestitures and carve-outs of non-core businesses. As the overall economy continues to recover, we remain optimistic that more growth-driven acquisition activity will return to the mix, fueling a more active deal market in the year ahead.”