Page 13 - CCFA Journal - Fifth Issue

监购 M&A 加中金融

万亿美元的购物狂欢

The Trillion-Dollar Shopping Spree
Maria Chen, Director, The CE Shop

COVID’s impact on M&A: An epic head-fake 新冠肺炎对并购的影响: 一场史诗般的虚晃一枪
In March 2020, along with the rest of the labour force, M&A 2020年3月，并购专业人士与其他劳动力一起卑躬屈膝，
professionals hunkered down and braced themselves for the 准备迎接一种对他们的技能或经验值要求更低的前景世
prospect of a world which demanded less of their skills or 界。与此同时，在全球范围内，战略和金融收购者都暂
experience. At the same time, strategic and financial acquirers 停了交易——有些人甚至退出了正在进行的交易——因
alike put deal-making on hold around the globe – some even
backing out of in-flight deals – as they redeployed capital 为他们要以防御姿势重新部署资本，以支撑自己的资产
defensively to shore up their balance sheets and maximize 负债表，并将流动性最优化。在过去 30 年 3 大并购下行
liquidity. In the 3 significant M&A down cycles over the last 30 周期期间——美国的 1990 年经济衰退引发的石油价格冲
years – the 1990 recession in the US triggered by oil price 击,2001 年的科技股泡沫,和 2008 年的金融危机——并购
shocks, the 2001 technology bubble, and the financial crisis of 交易额下降了超过 50%并花了三到六年时间才刚恢复到之
2008 – M&A volumes declined by over 50% and took three to 前的水平。问题来了 covid - 19 引发的放缓是否会遵循
six years to recover to their prior levels. The question was 类似的模式，早期迹象并不令人鼓舞。虽然并购交易并
whether the COVID-induced slowdown would follow a similar 没有停止，但到 2020 年 6 月，并购数量已降至 10 多年来
pattern, and the early signs were not encouraging. While deal- 的最低水平。
making did not grind to a halt, the number of acquisitions had
dwindled to levels not seen in well over a decade by June 2020. 然而，就像公开市场的惊人复苏一样，仅仅一个季度后，
并购活动就迅速反弹。在收购者中，对不确定性的恐惧
However, much like the astonishing recovery of the public 很快被乐观主义、机会主义和空头支票所取代。一些企
markets, it did not take long for M&A activity to bounce back 业重新启动并购，以推进其战略和增长计划，而另一些
with a vengeance just one quarter later. Amongst acquirers, 企业则试图浑水摸鱼。与此同时，在诱人估值的刺激下，
fear of uncertainty was quickly replaced by optimism, 新卖家纷纷重返市场，这不仅促使了并购市场的复苏，
opportunism, and open cheque books. Some businesses 而且在交易数量和价值上都创下了并购交易的纪录。
returned to M&A to advance their strategic and growth plans,
while others tried to take advantage of market dislocations. 在此过程中，交易的性质也发生了变化，推动了这种复
Simultaneously, along with companies already on the block, 苏，同时也为企业节省了大量时间和金钱。旅行限制及
new sellers came back to the market in droves, spurred by the 对远程工作的慢慢适应，面对面的工作会议被 Zoom 电话
attractive valuations and leading to what has become not just 会议所替代，原本一整天的日程被单独更有针对性的会
a recovery, but a record run for M&A in terms of both deal 议所取代，“工作时间”的界限正逐渐变得模糊。
volume and value.
并购活动的势头一直延续到 2021 年。在疫苗接种和边境
Along the way, the nature of deal-making has also changed, 开放带来的更广泛经济复苏的积极消息的推动下，2021
fueling this resurgence while also saving companies a lot of
time and money. Led by travel restrictions and growing 年有望实现有记录以来最高的年度交易额。
comfort with remote work, in-person diligence meetings have
been replaced by Zoom calls, day-long agendas have given way
to separate, more pointed meetings, and – perhaps not
necessarily for the better – “business hours” are becoming an
increasingly blurred definition.

This momentum from the flurry of M&A activity has carried
over to 2021. Further bolstered by the positive news of a
broader economic recovery resulting from vaccine distribution
and border openings, 2021 is on track to deliver the highest
annual transaction value on record.

Figure 2 Average Monthly Global M&A Count—Public and Private M&A

CCFA JOURNAL OF FINANCE October 2021
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