End of Downward Trend for M&As Involving German Companies

The number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) involving German firms stabilised over the first half of 2018, after previously witnessing a decline. 2018 began – as is common at the beginning of the year – with a large number of transactions in January. After a modest spring, activities picked up again in the summer. This development is clearly discernible in the current ZEW-ZEPHYR M&A Index, which tracks the number of M&A transactions involving German companies on a monthly basis. These are the findings of studies carried out by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, on the basis of the Zephyr database of Bureau van Dijk.

“Overall, growth in German M&A activities this year reversed the downward trend that was ongoing since January of 2017,” says Dr. Niklas Dürr, a researcher in the ZEW Research Department “Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics” and project leader for the calculation of the ZEW-ZEPHYR M&A Volume per Deal Index. This uptick is a reflection of the general economic situation in Germany, as economic performance has been robust in recent years, despite multiple indications of the economy entering a saturation phase.

The twelve-month moving average is up slightly as well after falling between October 2017 and January 2018. But while the number of transactions has increased, their volume displayed a weaker development in the past few months. Only one deal in the first half of 2018 exceeded one billion euros: the purchase of the Bavaria-based Stahlgruber GmbH by its US competitor LKQ Corporation for 1.5 billion euros.

ZEW-ZEPHYR M&A-Index Germany

The ZEW-ZEPHYR M&A Index measures the number of M&A transactions completed in Germany each month. It considers only mergers and acquisitions conducted by and with German companies. It does not differentiate between the country of origin of the buyer or partner involved. This means that both German and international buyer companies are considered, provided that the target companies are active in Germany. The ZEW-ZEPHYR M&A Index Germany is created by ZEW and Bureau van Dijk on the basis of the ZEPHYR data base. ZEPHYR provides information on more than 1.6 million M&As, IPOs and private equity transactions worldwide.

For further information please contact:

Dr. Niklas Dürr, Phone +49 (0)621-1235-386, E-mail niklas.duerr@zew.de