Largest merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in Europe 2020

The statistic shows ten largest merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, listing the target companies involved in the transactions as well as the year when the deal took place, in Europe. According to data provided by the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances (IMAA), the ten largest M&A deals to take place in Europe all happened between 1999 and 2015.

Europe’s biggest M&A deals

The largest M&A deal to ever take place in Europe was Vodafone AirTouch's acquisition of Mannesmann AG for the price of 204.8 billion euros in 1999. Mannesman A.G. was a German industrial conglomerate, originating in 1890 as the manufacturer of steel pipes. Their success in the area of telecommunications was the reason for the takeover by the British company. Second listed in the ranking was SABMiller Plc., who were acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the multinational beverage and brewing company with global headquarters in Belgium in 2015, for the price of nearly 92 billion euros. SABMiller Plc. was a brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking near London, United Kingdom. Prior to the acquisition, it was the world's second largest brewer in terms of revenues.

M&A in Europe

2019 saw a decline in both M&A volume and value as compared to 2018. On a global level, Europe sees the highest volume of M&A deals but falls far short of the total deal values seen in North America. As a target, the United Kingdom (UK) accounts for the highest number of M&A deals in Europe and is amongst the largest M&A markets worldwide.