U.S. M&A deal activity decreased in May, going down 7.9% with 969 announcements compared to 1,052 in April. However, aggregate M&A spending increased. In May, 40.3% more was spent on deals compared to April.
In terms of M&A deal activity, 5 of the 21 sectors tracked by FactSet saw an increase in M&A deal activity over the past three months relative to the same three-month period one year ago: Technology Services (764 vs. 636), Transportation (78 vs. 66), Electronic Technology (73 vs. 69), Miscellaneous (16 vs. 14), and Process Industries (70 vs. 68).
On the other hand, 15 of the 21 sectors tracked by FactSet saw a decrease in M&A deal activity over the past three months relative to the same three-month period one year ago. The five sectors that witnessed the largest declines in M&A deal volume were: Finance (541 vs. 669), Consumer Services (138 vs. 231), Commercial Services (331 vs. 402), Distribution Services (117 vs. 176) and Health Services (82 vs. 112).
Topping the list of the largest deals announced in May are: Charter Communications, Inc., agreeing to acquire Cox Communications, Inc., from Cox Enterprises, Inc., for $24 billion; 3G Capital Partners Ltd.'s deal to acquire Skechers USA, Inc., for $9.46 billion; NRG Energy, Inc., agreeing to acquire a 13 GW Natural Gas Generation Portfolio from LS Power Equity Advisors LLC for $9.3 billion; Salesforce, Inc.'s deal to acquire Informatica, Inc., for $7.6 billion; Blackstone Corporate Private Equity entering an agreement to acquire TXNM Energy, Inc., for $5.67 billion.
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