By Greg Roumeliotis and Pamela Barbaglia
Strong equity and debt markets and swelling corporate cashcoffers also helped boost the confidence of chief executives,convincing them that now is as good a time as ever to pursuetransformative mergers, dealmakers said.
"The clarity on tax has unclogged some of the M&A activitythat was strategically imperative, but companies were waitingfor the right financial timing," said Anu Aiyengar, head ofNorth America M&A at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
While the value of M&A deals globally increased 67 percentyear-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, the number of dealsdropped by 10 percent to 10,338, preliminary Thomson Reutersdata show, reflecting how deals on average are getting bigger.
Among the largest deals clinched this quarter were
M&A volumes doubled in
"The better macro-economic environment in
In
"Companies have become more aggressive in pursuing dealsthat make strong strategic sense. But valuations remain high andboards have recently become more cautious on large acquisitions,as it is more difficult to convince their investors of thepotential for value creation at such price levels," saidGilberto Pozzi, co-head of global M&A at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Regulatory risk has also increased. Trump's dramaticintervention that blocked
"While every auction used to see at least one Chineseparticipant, now people are questioning their ability to deliverand are conscious of the political pushback that Chinese bidderscould face," said Johannes Groeller, a partner at PJT PartnersInc.
On the antitrust front there is also some uncertainty. The
"The antitrust environment for M&A transactions seemsfavorable today though certain deals, which catch the attentionof regulators or politicians for one reason or another, can beproblematic," said Jack Levy, a partner at Centerview PartnersHoldings LP.
"One should resist the temptation to conclude from thosespecific deals that the antitrust regime has become moredifficult," Levy added.(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in