SUPPLY GLITCHES may be holding up transactions in much of the global economy but one area where purchasers can run riot is corporate acquisitions. Refinitiv, a data firm, tots up $5.1trn of deals this year, up 44% over all of 2020 and 21% over 2015, the previous peak. The reason for the boom? Low interest rates reduce financing costs while a recovering economy suggests profits to come. Exhausted bankers might like a dry stretch but worry about just how dry things can get. Prior booms in 2000 and 2007 ended not with a whimper but a bang.
Your browser does not support the <audio> element.
For more expert analysis of the biggest stories in economics, business and markets, sign up to Money Talks, our weekly newsletter.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Booming M&A is smashing records”
