Pharm and Biotech Help Drive Banner Year for EMEA Deals

2014 was a banner year for deals in all industries across the EMEA region, according to Mergermarket’s 2014 EMEA Deal Drivers report.   A total of 6,286 deals worth €671.5bn were announced across the EMEA region in 2014, representing an 8% year-on-year (YoY) increase in deal volume, and a 39% rise in deal value. And this year will see "European M&A build on last year's momentum in 2015", acording to Mergermarket's Beranger Guille.   Some of the report's other key findings include:

• The pharma, medical and biotech (PMB) sector made sizeable gains in 2014, as volume increased 17% YoY to 431 deals, and value rose more than twofold to €86.2bn over the same period. Indeed, in EMEA, PMB accounted for the top three announced deals of the year, including Actavis’s €50.5bn acquisition of US-based pharmaceutical company Allergan.

• The 39% YoY surge in deal values was fuelled by large gains in the number of deals over €2bn, with only a modest uplift in deals between €5m and €250m.

• Private equity (PE) buyout volume increased 23% to 1,114 deals, and value rose 46% to €100.7bn. Valuations were driven up markedly compared to 2013: the average EBITDA multiple in 2014 was 75 times earnings, compared to 14.4 in 2013.

• As in 2013, the UK and Ireland remain attractive markets, and drove both 2014 values and volumes for the EMEA region at 24.9% and 23.4%, respectively.

Click here to view the full report.   http://mergermarketgroup.com/publication/deal-drivers-emea-full-year-edition-2014