New research, authored by Intralinks Holdings Inc., and City University London’s Cass Business School, has identified the best-performing global businesses in creating shareholder value from mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
The study, ‘Masters of the Deal: Part 2, looks at 20 years of data’, the largest ever analysis of shareholder value creation from M&A, and analyzed 265,000 deals and the performance of over 25,000 global public companies. The research identified 1,469 elite global firms that consistently outperformed their peers in delivering above-average total shareholder returns. A complete list of these best performing companies in M&A can be found on the Intralinks website.
The report also found the common M&A strategies employed by these high performing companies, which had a significant influence on their outperformance. The strategies of these companies, referred to in the report as Excellent Corporate Portfolio Managers (ECPMs), included:
- Bolder M&A strategies, with greater execution risk – cross-border acquisitions accounted for 38% of the value of all acquisitions by ECPMs versus 28% of the value of all acquisitions by other firms; ECPMs made four times as many hostile acquisitions as other firms.
- Faster deal completion – 33% of all acquisitions and 33% of all divestments by ECPMs were slow to complete, versus 34% and 39% respectively for other firms.
- Greater engagement with financial sponsors and public companies – ECPMs engaged in a higher proportion of deals than other firms where the counterparty was a private equity firm or a public company.
- Greater use of all-cash consideration – 38% of the value of all acquisitions by ECPMs were all-cash, compared to 30% of the value of all acquisitions by other firms.
- Avoiding large, transformational acquisitions by undertaking smaller acquisitions, relative to their own size, than other firms – the average value of acquisitions by ECPMs was 0.18 times their own sales, versus 0.26 times the buyer’s own sales for non-ECPM firms.
- Making significantly more acquisitions than divestments – ECPMs made 3.4 times as many acquisitions, by value, than divestments, compared to other firms which, on average, engaged in the same value of acquisition and divestment transactions.
- Making significant timing adjustments to acquisitions and divestments to align with market conditions and take advantage of valuation opportunities – ECPMs reduced the value of acquisitions relative to divestments during periods when M&A markets and valuation levels are increasing strongly, and significantly increased the value of acquisitions relative to divestments immediately following sharp market downturns.
The Best Performing Companies in M&A
Number of ECPMs per region:
- US: 588
- UK: 276
- Europe, Middle East & Africa excluding UK: 275
- Asia Pacific: 206
- Americas excluding the US: 124
The Oil & Gas sector was found to have the highest percentage of firms identified as ECPMs (10.5%), followed by Industrials, Healthcare, and Technology.
Globally, 6% of all companies examined for the report were identified as ECPMS. Regionally, it was European companies that were more likely to qualify as ECPMs. In fact, 12% of listed firms in the UK and France identified as ECPMs, along with 9% of the listed German companies. Even though the US had the highest number of ECPMs (40% of total sample), the US as a region fell below the global average with only 5% of US firms identified as ECPMs.
Firms identified as ECPMs include:
US: Colfax, Concho Resources, Dana Holding, EMC, EV Energy Partners, FleetCor Technologies, Google, IHS, Monsanto, RigNet, Salesforce.com, Targa Resources Partners, TriMas, Vanguard Natural Resources
Europe, Middle East & Africa: Aberdeen Asset Management (UK), Intertek (UK), Mondi (UK), SABMiller (UK), Aros Quality Group (Sweden), HEXPOL (Sweden), AURELIUS (Germany), MBB SE (Germany), SMT Scharf (Germany), Burkhalter (Switzerland), Eurocash (Poland), Eurofins Scientific (Luxembourg), Nizhnekamskneftekhim (Russia), Jeronimo Martins (Portugal), Econocom (Belgium)
Asia Pacific: Hinokiya Holdings (Japan), Maeda Kosen (Japan), Ancom Logistics (Malaysia), C.I. Holdings (Malaysia), Tiong Nam Logistics Holdings (Malaysia), Austin Engineering (Australia), Corporate Travel Management (Australia), M2 Group (Australia), Mineral Resources (Australia), Silver Lake Resources (Australia)
Americas excluding the US: Alimentation Couche-Tard (Canada), Amaya Gaming Group (Canada), Black Diamond Group (Canada), Canadian Energy Services & Technology (Canada), Constellation Software (Canada), GoGold Resources (Canada), SECURE Energy Services (Canada), Trinidad Drilling (Canada), Mexichem (Mexico), TOTVS (Brazil)