Consultancy mergers and acquisitions (M&A) rose 1.4 percent worldwide last year, led by a sharp increase in North America, and will likely rise further through 2014, according to a study by Equiteq, an M&A firm focused solely on the consulting industry.
Deal volume in North America jumped 11 percent, more than making up for a decrease of 7 percent in Europe that matched the average drop from the previous two years, says Equiteq. The UK saw a 6 percent increase. Overall, deal volumes were almost 34 percent above the financial crash levels of 2009 and 11.5 percent above the peak of 2007.
‘Last year we forecast a gentle upturn, and there is no doubt that that has come to fruition,’ Paul Collins, managing partner at Equiteq, says in a press release. ‘Our prediction now is that 2014 will see a significant growth in volumes and prices in the market. This is in line with the improving macro-economic climate and the general M&A market.’
In all, 2,306 buyers purchased 2,742 entities in the consulting industry in 2013, with two-thirds of all deals completed by companies from just five countries: the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and France, according to Equiteq data. The data show that takeovers by foreign firms were far more likely in Europe, where they accounted for 29 percent of all deals, than in the US, where they accounted for only 7 percent.
The number of deals in North America has risen steadily since its recent low of 734 deals in 2009, reaching 1,197 last year. The number of European deals, meanwhile, fell to 950 last year from 1,022 in 2012 and 1,104 in 2011. Volumes in the Asia-Pacific region rose for the second straight year, reaching 462 last year.
Advertising and public relations company WPP led the increase for another year, purchasing 22 consultancies among its 40 takeovers last year, Equiteq says. Advertising and communications company Publicis Groupe came next with 12 deals, followed by engineering consultancy SGS, with 10.
