Mergers & acquisitions activity cooled down in the third quarter after a red-hot start of the year, but deals involving U.S. companies purchasing foreign businesses rose, helping to somewhat stabilize the sector, according to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Entertainment, media and communications deal volume dipped 10% in the third quarter, with 204 announced deals compared to 224 deals in Q3 2013 and 226 deals in Q2 2014. Deal value reached $18.5 billion, about one-third the $74 billion in deal value in the prior quarter. Cross-border deals increased significantly in the period – according to PwC’s US Entertainment, Media & Communications (EMC) Deal Insights, acquisitions by U.S. companies of foreign businesses were up 37% and inbound deals increased 49%.
According to PwC, the Q3 2014 period was the most active quarter to date in 2014, with 67 outbound deals compared to 52 and 59 in Q1’14 and Q2’14, respectively. About half of outbound deals in year-to-date Sptember 2014 were focused in four territories: UK, Australia, Canada and China. European territories outside of the UK accounted for another 30% of outbound deal activity in the period.
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(Photo via Ervins Strauhmanis's Flickr. Image taken on Sept. 19, 2014 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 3x4 aspect ratio.)
