Since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy, getting deals done has been challenging, especially due to rising corporate borrowing costs, which reached their highest level since at least 1999. However, the stock performance of companies that continued to close M&A transactions through the recession are performing better than their competitors that have laid low, according to a report by Towers Perrin (which recently merged with Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc. The Deal Pipeline subscribers can read more
here.) and the U.K.'s Cass Business School.
Specifically, the report, which covers 204 deals from Sept. 15, 2008, to May 31, 2009, shows that companies engaging in M&A increased share price performance by 6%, according to
Bloomberg. Overall dealmaking has dropped 40% in the first half of 2009, according to
Reuters, but those companies seeking M&A opportunities in the current economic environment were mostly strategic acquirers in healthcare (14%), technology (9.3%) and the energy industry (7.3%).
Some of the more familiar dealmaking companies, whose stocks are eclipsing their competition because of acquisitions include:
- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
- Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)
- Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)
- B&G Group plc (OTC:BRGYY)
- Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ:SYMC)
If you are interested in seeing all of the deals during this period, check out
The Deal's Pipeline M&A database for more. Also check out Corporate Dealmaker to see
analysis of the latest deals in strategic M&A. -
Maria Woehr
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