The value of global retail industry mergers and acquisitions (M&A) soared in Q4 2019 to a total of $25.66 billion, according to UK-based data and analytics company GlobalData.
That total value represents a 38.4% increase over Q3 and was up 160.7% compared with the average of $9.93 billion over the last four quarters.
Retail M&A deals worth $57.94 billion were announced globally for all of 2019, marking a decrease of 4.8% year over year, GlobalData reported.
Citing figures from data provider Refinitiv, Fortune reported that M&A deals across all sectors announced in Q4, including retail, were valued at just under $1 trillion and said the “surge of deal-making in the final quarter drove the value of takeovers worldwide to $3.9 trillion in 2019, 3% lower than the previous year.”
That helped make 2019 the fourth highest year for all sector M&A deals since Refinitiv started tracking deals in 1980, Fortune said, and the sixth consecutive year with a total value of deals exceeding $3 trillion.
In terms of the retail sector, GlobalData figures show North America leading in Q4 with announced M&A deals valued at $19.43 billion, with the vast majority in the U.S., at $19.38 billion.
That total represented 80 deals, according to GlobalData, representing the highest global volume, ahead of Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Japan was second in volume with 27 deals and the UK third with 24 deals.
The top five retail industry deals of Q4 2019 tracked by GlobalData were:
- LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s $16.29 billion acquisition of Tiffany & Co.
- The $2.1 billion asset transaction with Metro by Wumart Stores
- CITIC Pacific’s $1.16 billion acquisition of Dah Chong Hong Holdings
- The $1 billion asset transaction with Park Place Motorcars by Asbury Automotive Group
- OptumRx’s acquisition of Diplomat Pharmacy for $738.27 million
GlobalData said those five deals, with a combined value of $21.29 billion, represented 83% of the overall M&A value during Q4.
Including M&A deals across all sectors announced in Q4, Fortune said more than $60 billion in deals were announced on “Merger Monday”, Nov. 25, including the LVMH acquisition of Tiffany and Charles Schwab’s $26 billion deal for TD Ameritrade.
In another major non-retail M&A deal, warehouse and fulfillment center giant Prologis announced plans in October to acquire rival Liberty Property Trust in an all-stock merger valued at $12.68 billion.
GlobalData said its analysis considers only announced and completed deals from its financial deals database and excludes terminated and rumored deals. It defines acquisitions as both completed deals and those in the bidding stage.