FirstFT: Dealmaking surges past $5.8tn to highest levels on record

Global mergers and acquisitions for 2021 have soared to their highest levels since records began more than four decades ago, thanks in part to booming markets and widespread stimulus measures.

Deals worth more than $5.8tn were agreed worldwide this year, according to figures from Refinitiv, a 64 per cent rise from last year and the fastest pace of growth since the mid-1990s. The value of deals was 54 per cent higher than in 2019 before the pandemic.

It marks out 2021 as an exceptionally busy year, even for an industry that has been accelerating for much of the past decade.

“In 2021 the stars aligned and virtually everything that could go right for [dealmaking] did,” said Frank Aquila, head of M&A at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

The M&A boom also contributed to record-breaking fees for investment banks, which totalled $157bn in 2021, including $47bn in fees for M&A advice, the most since records began more than two decades ago.

How well did you keep up with the news this year? Take our quiz.

Three more stories in the news

1. UK splurges on takeaways and pets in 2021 Data from Barclaycard revealed that Britons indulged in takeaways, TV subscriptions, home improvements and their pets in 2021, as the coronavirus pandemic and limits on social interaction forced a widespread change in habits.

2. Hertz rebirth delivers $3bn windfall to two backers Little-known investment groups Certares and Knighthead are reaping huge rewards from one of the hedge fund industry’s most lucrative trades of 2021, after helping drive the century-old car hire pioneer’s exit from bankruptcy.

3. How NFTs became a $40bn market in 2021 Back in January, only a niche group of crypto enthusiasts knew what non-fungible tokens were. By the end of the year, almost $41bn had been spent on NFTs, making the market for digital artwork and collectibles almost as valuable as the global art market.

Coronavirus digest

• How will the pandemic end? Despite the threat of the latest Omicron variant, scientists are optimistic that the virus’s toll on global health will ease.

• Covid-19 test shortages in the UK highlight pressure on supply chains as demand surges.

• France has eased restrictions for Britons returning to their homes in other EU countries after sudden new controls sparked travel disruption.

What else we’re reading

Forecasting the world in 2022 FT writers share their predictions for the new year, from the possible emergence of an even more infectious strain of coronavirus to the Ukraine stand-off and the NFT bubble.

The resonance of Andrei Sakharov in Putin’s Russia Thirty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the legacy and spirit of the late dissident remain grimly relevant, writes Simon Kuper.

Carmakers wary of going ‘all in’ on electric vehicles Companies such as Toyota, BMW and Stellantis are resisting the rush into electric vehicles. While all three have plans to sell significant numbers of electric cars over the next decade, they believe the green revolution will be gradual.

Our most-read Weekend article of the year

In February, Yuval Noah Harari looked back at a year of “scientific breakthroughs” and “political failures”, seeking lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic. What can we learn for the future? Read one of our most popular stories of 2021, written by the author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.

“Fighting the epidemic is important, but is it worth destroying our freedom in the process? It is the job of politicians rather than engineers to find the right balance between useful surveillance and dystopian nightmares” — Yuval Noah Harari

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