LONDON (20th October 2009) – IHS Jane’s warned the spike in mergers and acquisitions (A&M) activity in the defence industrial markets witnessed during the second quarter of the year may have been a false dawn as activity slid back sharply during the three months to 30th September.
Guy Anderson, Lead analyst of Jane’s Defence Industry, explained, “Activity in the defence domain remained heavily subdued in the third quarter of 2009, suggesting that hopes of an upturn prompted by the spike in the number of higher value deals during the preceding three months may have been premature.”
IHS Jane's tracked 24 publicly disclosed M&A transactions in the sector for the three months to the end of September: down from 27 in the second quarter and close to the 23 recorded during the first quarter. This marks a continued decline from the relatively low performance of 2008, when activity stood at 28, 24 and 30 deals in the year's third, second and first quarters respectively.
The total value of deals reported during the third quarter of 2009 was particularly notable, however: the total of USD 502.1 million is lower than any quarterly result from the past three years.
Such headline figures reflect the nature of activity during the three months. The deal landscape was characterised by the pursuit of small, in-fill targets – some way below the USD 500 million mark – which typically added niche capabilities to buyers' portfolios. Buyers crossed the spectrum of bidders, however, with upper-tier, lower-tier and private equity participants leading activity.
IHS Jane’s is an IHS (NYSE: IHS) company.
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To interview Guy Anderson, Lead analyst of Jane’s Defence Industry, please contact Mandy Castle, senior manager public relations IHS Jane’s, (contact details at top of page).
About IHS Jane’s (www.janes.com)
IHS Jane's is the leading open source information provider and conference organiser on defence, international risk and national security to governments, militaries, industries and academia around the globe. 2009 is the 100th anniversary of Jane’s All The Worlds Aircraft. IHS Jane’s, an IHS (NYSE: IHS) company, is headquartered in London, and also has offices in Alexandria, Virginia; Singapore; Tokyo; Dubai; and Sydney, Australia.
About IHS (www.ihs.com)
IHS (NYSE: IHS) is a leading global source of critical information and insight, dedicated to providing the most complete and trusted information and expertise. IHS product and service solutions span four areas of information that encompass the most important concerns facing global business today: Energy, Product Lifecycle, Security, and Environment, all supported by Macroeconomics. By focusing on customers first, IHS enables innovative and successful decision-making for customers ranging from governments and multinational companies to smaller companies and technical professionals in more than 180 countries. IHS is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2009 and employs approximately 4,000 people in 20 countries.
IHS is a registered trademark of IHS Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2009 IHS Inc. All rights reserved.
