Earlier today PitchBook released its M&A Report for Q3 2015 and the stats indicate continued strength in merger and acquisition activity.
While the overall deal count for Q2 2015 was down (4,250 deals with an aggregate value of $416 billion) as compared to the prior quarter (4,803 deals with an aggregate of $560 billion) and prior year (5,183 deal with an aggregate of $373 billion), the average transaction size spiked to $1.103 billion in Q2 2015 as compared to $795.3 million in Q1 2015 and $231.9 million in Q2 2014. Despite this spike in average transaction size, approximately 70% of the deals (by number) were valued at under $100 million, which is consistent with past quarters.
As illustrated in the below graph from PitchBook, valuation multiples for Q2 2015 deals remained also relatively consistent with the multiples from the prior quarter and prior year.
Corporate / strategic M&A buyers continued to represent the overwhelming majority of the buyers in Q2 2015 (vs. private equity / sponsor backed buyers), a trend that has been consistent for a few years now.