Private equity mergers and acqusitions (M&A) was up by 32% compared to 2010, according to Thomson Reuters Mergers & Acquisitions Review Year End 2011. Boosted by a strong fourth quarter, worldwide private equity-backed M&A activity totalled US$306.3 billion for the full year 2011. Private equity deal making in the US accounted for 47.7% of M&A activity during full year 2011, followed by the United Kingdom, France and Sweden. PE-backed M&A accounted for 11.9% of worldwide announced M&A during full year 2011.

Total global M&A figures didnt fare as well as private equity-backed activity. The value of worldwide M&A totalled US$2.6 trillion during full year 2011, a 7% increase from comparable 2010 levels. By number of deals, M&A activity fell 5.5% compared to last year with just over 40,000 announced deals. For the second half of the year M&A activity totalled US$1.1 trillion, down 23.9% from the first half of the year. Fourth quarter activity totalled US $543.8 billion and marked the third consecutive quarterly decline for worldwide M&A since the first quarter of 2011.

Worldwide Completed M&A by Region

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