FT: More than 4,000 billion dollars worth of acquisitions were made this year

Business transactions value in the world exceeded 4,000 billion dollars this year for the first time since the peak year of 2021, says the newspaper Financial Times (FT).

In all, 68 M&As worth at least $10 billion reshaped industries from media to manufacturing as companies took advantage of bullish markets, easier financing conditions and looser US regulation.

According to the data compiled by the company that owns the London Stock Exchange, the value of international business arrangements increased by almost 50 percent from last year to approximately 4,500 billion dollars, the Financial Times reports.

About business arrangements investment banks also benefited. Their combined fees grew to $135 billion, according to the FT. That is nine percent more than last year.

More than half of the investment banks’ fees came from the United States, as 2,300 billion dollars of M&A was directed there.

“The willingness to take risks is currently strong, and it is supported by the availability of financing and competition law,” said the head of acquisitions at asset management company Lazard Mark McMaster FT:lle.

According to the magazine, the two biggest mergers and acquisitions of the year are entertainment companies Netflix and Paramount’s tender for Warner Bros Discovery and the merger of US rail transport companies Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern.