Sliding in First Half, Banks Think Smaller

To no one’s surprise, M&A activity in the first half of 2002 was blase, to say the least. And bankers, anticipating a cool M&A market for the second leg of the year, have not only reduced their firms’ headcount but have been moving towards smaller deals. According to preliminary statistics from Thomson Financial as of June 27, the first six months of 2002 tallied just over $200 billion in announced M&A transactions, down 45% from the $369 billion in announced deals for the first half of 2001 and a whopping 77% off the $886.7 billion for the first six months of 2000. On the worldwide front, M&A fell approximately 39% on a year-over-year basis to $550 billion, compared to $903 billion for the first half last year. Compared to the glory days of 2000, global M&A tumbled nearly 71% from a first-half 2000 high of $1.95 trillion.