After experiencing a strong 2018, M&A activity in the industrials sector rode into the current year on  high note and remains robust, according to business consults A.T. Kearney.

The value of completed deals rose from $662 billion in 2017 to $680 billion in 2018.

The trend toward megadeals continued in 2018 with more than 100 deals topping $1 billion each and seven deals worth more than $10 billion each.

Most deals still happen within a country’s borders, but some large cross-border deals are on the horizon

In 2018, the United States continued to lead the global M&A market with transactions worth $282 billion. Some 91 percent of that deal value was from within the country. China came next at $131 billion, with 78 percent of deal value inside the country.

Although the strong focus on national deals is expected to remain in 2019, some large announced deals are international. Meanwhile, companies have refined their portfolios to reach higher levels of consolidation and are benefitting from market reach, capability, and efficiency gained through M&A.

However, overall deal volume hit a headwind in the beginning of 2019, with only 3,558 transactions worth a total $801.5 billion  registered in the first quarter, a 15% decrease in value over the same period last year. That's According to a separate report, from MergerMarket, which found that large cross-border deals, which propelled M&A activity in the past five years, have almost disappeared. Only nine mega deals have been struck so far this year, down from 14 in 1Q18. 

Cross border M&A accounted for only 30.8% global M&A in the first quarter ($246.9 billion) compared to 38-40% on average between 2015 and 2018.

“With pockets of consolidation in some particularly hot sectors, vigorous private equity activity and a healthy domestic deal flow in the US should give hope to dealmakers for the rest of 2019,” commented Beranger Guille, Global Editorial Analytics Director at Mergermarket.