The 10 Biggest and Most Impactful M&A Deals of 2019

Several enormous M&A deals occurred in 2019. Although the volume of total mergers and acquisitions decreased somewhat as to previous years, the average deal size has substantially increased. Some of the biggest M&A deals of 2019 will help revamp some industries including defense and big pharma.

According to Market Insider, over $2.4 trillion worth of M&A deals were completed from January through October of 2019, and although the deal volume is down just over 11% from January through October of 2018, the average deal size rose considerably.  

The average deal size rose to over $420 million in 2019, up from just over $380 million in 2018. This indicates that dealmakers are seeking less transactions, but much larger ones when pursuing new deals.

10.  Newmont Mining Corp & Goldcorp Inc. Merger – Mining & Gold Industry

At the very beginning of 2019 in January, Newmont Mining Corp disclosed a merger with Canadian-based Goldcorp Inc., to form a new company called Newmont Goldcorp. The merger was concluded a few months later in April 2019. This will make the new entity one of the largest manufacturers of gold in the world.

The deal was assessed at over $10 billion, and produced a 65% Newmont vs 35% Goldcorp ownership of the new entity

9.  Salesforce & Tableau Software Acquisition – Software Industry

Salesforce has been continuing to expand its products and services above and beyond its CRM Solutions ever since 2016, when it failed to acquire LinkedIn and LinkedIn instead got acquired by Microsoft.  

Thus, in 2019, Salesforce acquired Tableau Software, a data visualization company specializing in enhancing the visuals of current trends to more easily analyze and interpret the data. Tableau Software has some large Fortune 500 clients and is growing fast. The value of the deal was said to be over $15 billion.

8. Danaher & GE Biopharma Acquisition – Pharmaceuticals Industry

GE sold their BioPharma business to Danaher in 2019, which happened at the perfect time considering GE was struggling at the time and needed the revenue from the sale to enhance its balance sheet. The deal, valued at over $21 billion, will see GE’s BioPharma segment of its business become a property within Danaher’s Life Science business segment.  

Danaher projects the revenue of the GE BioPharma business to generate over $3 billion annually, with the majority of that consisting over reoccurring revenue.  

7. Global Payments & Total System Services Merger – Credit Card Services Industry

In 2019, Global Payments Systems purchased Total System Services, a credit card service provider, for over $20 billion.  The deal will create an enormous payment service provider with well over 3 million merchants.

The combined entity is projected to generate over $8 billion in added revenue, with over 50% ownership being maintained by the shareholders of Global Payments.

6. Fiserv & First Data Merger – Financial Services Industry

In an enormous acquisition in the financial services industry, Fiserv acquired payment solutions company First Data at a deal estimate to be over $20 billion. It is estimated that the deal, which consisted of all stock, will increase revenue by 15%-25% in the first year, and would generate annual cash flow of several billion dollars in the third or fourth year.

5. FIS & Worldpay Merger – Financial Services Industry

In a $30+ billion dollar deal in the first quarter of 2019, FIS (Fidelity National Information Services) acquired Worldpay, a large payment processor. The annual revenues for the newly formed entity are estimated to be over $10 billion.

4. Occidental Petroleum Corporation & Anadarko Petroleum Merger – Oil & Gas Industry

In a deal valued at over $55 billion, Texas-headquartered petroleum company Anadarko accepted a buyout offer from Occidental Petroleum Corporation, which ended a former agreement with Chevron after the payout of a termination fee.  

This deal will have a major impact on the oil and gas industry, with the new company expected to thrive, and is one of our biggest M&A deals of 2019! 

3. BB&T Bank & Sun Trust Banks Merger – Banking Industry

BB&T Bank and Sun Trust Banks agreed to merge in February in 2019, creating an enormous merger that rivals that of Global Payments and Total Systems Services. This was a merger that consisted of all stock and was valued at over $65 billion.  

This merger was conceivably the biggest merger of banks since the 2008 global financial crisis, and the newly formed entity will become one of the largest banks in the world considering both assets as well as deposits. This is one of the most talked about and biggest M&A deals of 2019 in the banking industry.

2. United Technologies & Raytheon Merger – Aerospace & Defense Industry

United Technologies And Raytheon merged to form a company that will be valued at over $115 billion, and will have annual revenues of over $70 billion. The newly formed entity will make it the second largest aerospace and defense corporation surpassed only by Boeing.

After the finalization of the deal, there will be a shareholder split of 57% vs 43% United Technlogies vs Raytheon. The transaction is expected to be finalized in early 2020 after United Technologies separates several of its divisions.

1. Bristol Myers Squibb & Celgene Merger – Pharmaceutical Industry

In early 2019 Brystol Myers Squibb indicated its desire to merge with Celgene at a deal valued at over $70 billion. The Brystol Myers Squibb shareholders would retain 69% ownership with Celgene stockholders holding the remainder.  It is a combined cash and stock deal that will create a behemoth of a pharmaceutical company. This was one of the, if not the biggest M&A deals of 2019 for the pharmaceutical industry!