Industrial products M&A activity surged in second quarter

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity surged across the global industrial products (IP) industry during the second quarter of 2014, according to PwC US. A significant uptick occurred in both deal volume and value across the majority of sectors on both a sequential and year-over-year basis, with larger deals and cross-border activity increasing. PwC’s IP practice examined the deal activity across six sectors: aerospace and defense, chemicals, engineering and construction, industrial manufacturing, metals, and transportation and logistics.

Across the entire IP industry, there were 223 transactions worth $50 million or more, totaling $148 billion in the second quarter of 2014, compared to 173 deals and $56 billion in total value during second quarter 2013. Overall deal activity in the second quarter of 2014 was also up notably over the first quarter of 2014, which recorded 169 deals totaling $68 billion. Every sector posted a sequential increase in deal volume during the second quarter of 2014, while five of the six sectors in the study posted year-over-year increases in M&A value for the period.

Industrial manufacturing was the most active sector during the second quarter, with 62 deals totaling $61 billion, up substantially from 36 deals valued at $10 billion in last year's comparable period. The transportation and logistics industry was also active with 51 deals valued at $20 billion during the second quarter, up from 39 deals valued at $17 billion in last year's second quarter. Rounding out the top three sectors for M&A activity, the chemicals sector recorded 40 transactions valued at $12.5 billion during the second quarter, up from 17 deals valued at $5.4 billion in last year's comparable period.

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