Snack-food giant Mondelez International Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ)’s potential takeover of chocolate maker Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) would rank as the year’s top M&A deal.
The volume of mergers and acquisitions globally is already up 18 percent year over year to $3.1 trillion as dealmaking makes a slow recovery from last year’s lows, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A takeover of Hershey, which was valued at $44 billion including debt at Monday’s close, would surpass candy bar maker Mars Inc.’s planned purchase of cereal producer Kellanova (NYSE: K) as the biggest acquisition of the year if they reach a final agreement.
There have already been more megadeals this year than 2023, with marquee transactions in the software, energy and media industries. Consumer transactions have accounted for a larger than usual proportion of the pie, approaching almost 20 percent of total deal volumes this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Activity is also heating up in financial services, with BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) agreeing recently to buy HPS Investment Partners for $12 billion. Man Group Plc CEO Robyn Grew, who leads the world’s biggest publicly traded hedge fund, said at a Bloomberg conference Tuesday that the firm is open to further acquisitions and sees “cracking opportunity” in the fast-growing credit space. Prudential Plc is also exploring options for its Asian asset management arm Eastspring Investments, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.
Private equity has continued to be active. Topcon Corp., a $1.5 billion Japanese maker of eye-care equipment, is attracting takeover interest from suitors including KKR (NYSE: KKR) and EQT AB, people with knowledge of the matter said this week. Meanwhile, Carlyle (Nasdaq: CG) agreed to sell software firm 1E to Germany’s TeamViewer SE in a $720 million deal, while CVC Capital Partners Plc offered to take CompuGroup Medical SE private in a $1.2 billion deal.
