M&A statistics by industries
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We provide you with selected, regularly updated M&A statistics
In this section the Institute of Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances (IMAA) provides you with selected, regularly updated M&A statistics by industries. As a free user or individual / corporate member of our Institute you have full access and can also download M&A data and statistics with the actual numbers in spreadsheets (google sheets and excel format). Other M&A information we provide by region, countries, or transaction types.
Overview: Number of Mergers & Acquisitions by Industry since 1985
In terms of number of transactions, most of the deals happen in the industrial sector. More than 126’000 transactions have been announced since 1985 with a known value of about 6’100 bil. USD. With almost 118’000 M&A deals high technology comes in second rank with 5’000 bil. USD. The financials sector comes third in terms of number of combinations with more than 111’000 transactions with a value of 10’800 bil. USD.
Overview: Value of Mergers & Acquisitions by Industry since 1985
In terms of value of transactions, most of the deals happen in financial sector in total valued with more than 10’800 bil. The energy & power industry has experienced announced combinations of over 9’000 bil. USD. The materials sector has reached over 6’100 bil. USD.
Number and Value of M&A by Target Industry (1985-2016)
| Rank | Industry | Number | Value (bil. USD) | Value (bil. EUR) |
| 1 | Metals & Mining | 48963 | 3060.03 | 2434.32 |
| 2 | Professional Services | 46900 | 1094.98 | 914.86 |
| 3 | Other Financials | 35446 | 1388.22 | 1146.45 |
| 4 | Food and Beverage | 34577 | 2326.47 | 1966.13 |
| 5 | Software | 34362 | 1049.16 | 898.27 |
| 6 | Building/Construction & Engineering | 33208 | 758.01 | 629.42 |
| 7 | Oil & Gas | 32903 | 4891.34 | 4044.55 |
| 8 | Banks | 27932 | 5072.24 | 4298.55 |
| 9 | Transportation & Infrastructure | 27577 | 1995.43 | 1652.94 |
| 10 | Machinery | 26093 | 891.06 | 752.26 |
| 11 | IT Consulting & Services | 24648 | 702.17 | 594.64 |
| 12 | Internet Software & Services | 21642 | 911.87 | 767.59 |
| 13 | Other Consumer Products | 20836 | 808.01 | 688.18 |
| 14 | Chemicals | 19930 | 1594.49 | 1357.58 |
| 15 | Other Industrials | 18722 | 636.24 | 539.62 |
| 16 | Non Residential | 18347 | 1830.09 | 1487.68 |
| 17 | Insurance | 18024 | 2093.54 | 1779.69 |
| 18 | Publishing | 17488 | 704.39 | 613.01 |
| 19 | Automobiles & Components | 17089 | 1125.88 | 953.69 |
| 20 | Food & Beverage Retailing | 15702 | 1033.16 | 872.94 |
| 21 | Healthcare Equipment & Supplies | 15612 | 1093.01 | 891.61 |
| 22 | Other Real Estate | 15436 | 1017.43 | 826.73 |
| 23 | Textiles & Apparel | 14525 | 395.49 | 335.33 |
| 24 | Healthcare Providers & Services (HMOs) | 13909 | 773.88 | 643.44 |
| 25 | Hotels and Lodging | 13846 | 809.67 | 677.67 |
| 26 | Electronics | 13808 | 552.31 | 468.91 |
| 27 | Power | 13687 | 2666.72 | 2197.14 |
| 28 | Advertising & Marketing | 12983 | 296.25 | 252.60 |
| 29 | Asset Management | 12542 | 665.22 | 541.36 |
| 30 | Construction Materials | 11645 | 601.36 | 506.77 |
| 31 | Pharmaceuticals | 11509 | 2719.03 | 2274.45 |
| 32 | Computers & Peripherals | 10504 | 792.41 | 680.87 |
| 33 | Telecommunications Services | 10277 | 2538.91 | 2198.10 |
| 34 | Other Retailing | 9980 | 455.05 | 373.07 |
| 35 | Agriculture & Livestock | 9383 | 268.06 | 223.72 |
| 36 | Brokerage | 8812 | 813.18 | 681.41 |
| 37 | Semiconductors | 8727 | 815.86 | 710.36 |
| 38 | Water and Waste Management | 7855 | 411.60 | 345.84 |
| 39 | Motion Pictures / Audio Visual | 7822 | 795.56 | 704.92 |
| 40 | Broadcasting | 7758 | 810.19 | 711.75 |
| 41 | Paper & Forest Products | 7657 | 514.41 | 446.03 |
| 42 | Recreation & Leisure | 7363 | 315.34 | 262.27 |
| 43 | Containers & Packaging | 7297 | 325.50 | 277.60 |
| 44 | Real Estate Management & Development | 7199 | 286.65 | 235.37 |
| 45 | Telecommunications Equipment | 6650 | 528.38 | 474.24 |
| 46 | Credit Institutions | 5798 | 637.28 | 550.17 |
| 47 | Home Furnishings | 5455 | 128.40 | 111.35 |
| 48 | Wireless | 5349 | 2127.01 | 1844.82 |
| 49 | Other Materials | 5184 | 102.41 | 87.01 |
| 50 | Hospitals | 4808 | 317.31 | 259.19 |
| 51 | Employment Services | 4794 | 79.03 | 65.65 |
| 52 | Educational Services | 4749 | 83.38 | 68.01 |
| 53 | Automotive Retailing | 4660 | 87.91 | 74.17 |
| 54 | REITs | 4528 | 961.06 | 795.43 |
| 55 | Biotechnology | 4405 | 461.61 | 365.91 |
| 56 | Aerospace & Defense | 4300 | 540.64 | 470.46 |
| 57 | Travel Services | 4228 | 124.32 | 106.94 |
| 58 | E-commerce / B2B | 4065 | 157.45 | 131.94 |
| 59 | Cable | 3890 | 1349.63 | 1177.38 |
| 60 | Household & Personal Products | 3855 | 224.41 | 184.81 |
| 61 | Other Energy & Power | 3823 | 163.65 | 136.10 |
| 62 | Residential | 3623 | 308.10 | 255.07 |
| 63 | Alternative Energy Sources | 3508 | 198.00 | 159.57 |
| 64 | Internet and Catalog Retailing | 3169 | 113.07 | 95.44 |
| 65 | Apparel Retailing | 2990 | 129.05 | 104.77 |
| 66 | Discount and Department Store Retailing | 2695 | 414.58 | 347.72 |
| 67 | Computers & Electronics Retailing | 2526 | 88.27 | 72.56 |
| 68 | Petrochemicals | 2500 | 497.35 | 430.64 |
| 69 | Legal Services | 2164 | 4.35 | 3.46 |
| 70 | Home Improvement Retailing | 2140 | 98.79 | 84.48 |
| 71 | Alternative Financial Investments | 2131 | 75.08 | 58.86 |
| 72 | Pipelines | 1821 | 234.67 | 206.24 |
| 73 | Other Telecom | 1270 | 270.48 | 237.92 |
| 74 | Casinos & Gaming | 1248 | 284.94 | 234.42 |
| 75 | Diversified Financials | 860 | 64.90 | 56.08 |
| 76 | Tobacco | 702 | 529.40 | 417.89 |
| 77 | Public Administration | 570 | 11.33 | 9.47 |
| 78 | Other High Technology | 496 | 22.01 | 18.11 |
| 79 | Space and Satellites | 426 | 127.32 | 112.50 |
| 80 | Other Media & Entertainment | 395 | 7.20 | 6.15 |
| 81 | National Agency | 102 | 11.82 | 10.51 |
| 82 | Government Sponsored Enterprises | 70 | 3.32 | 2.98 |
| 83 | City Agency | 66 | 1.68 | 1.45 |
| 84 | Regional Agency | 60 | 2.45 | 1.99 |
| 85 | Supranational | 26 | 0.24 | 0.16 |
| 86 | City Government | 22 | 0.08 | 0.06 |
| 87 | Other Government and Agencies | 18 | 3.95 | 3.55 |
| 88 | Other Healthcare | 12 | 3.49 | 2.84 |
| 89 | Regional Government | 8 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| 90 | Industrial Conglomerates | 7 | 21.28 | 18.78 |
| 91 | National Government | 6 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
M&A Aerospace & Defense
M&A Automobiles & Components
M&A Banking
M&A Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
M&A Chemicals
M&A Consumer Products & Services
M&A Containers & Packaging
M&A Energy & Power
M&A Healthcare Equipment & Supplies
M&A Insurances
M&A IT Consulting & Services
M&A Machinery
M&A Media & Entertainment
M&A Retail
M&A Software & Internet Services
M&A Steel
M&A Telecommunications
Unless otherwise stated source for all statistics is: Thomson Financial, Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances (IMAA) analysis.
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