List of largest mergers and acquisitions

The following tables list the largest mergers and acquisitions in each decade. Transaction values are given in the US dollar value for the year of the merger, adjusted for inflation. As of July 2018 the largest ever acquisition was the 1999 takeover of Mannesmann by Vodafone Airtouch PLC at $202 billion ($297 billion adjusted for inflation). Pfizer appears in these lists the most times with three entries, for a combined transaction value of $240 billion.

Free market enterprises

1870s

Top M&A deals worldwide by value from 1870 to 1879:

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	[1] Inflation adjusted (in billions 2017 USD)
1	1879	Pacific Coast Oil Company	Star Oil	0.001	0.024

1900s

Top M&A deals worldwide by value from 1900 to 1909:

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	[1] Inflation adjusted (in billions 2017 USD)
1	1901	United States Steel Corporation	Carnegie Steel Company	0.492	14
2	1900	Standard Oil	Pacific Coast Oil Company	0.001	0.026

1940s

Top M&A deals worldwide by value from 1940 to 1949:

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	[1] Inflation adjusted (in billions 2017 USD)
1	1948	Burlington Mills[2]	May McEwen Kaiser	0.014	0.140
2	1947	Zinc Corporation[3]	Smelting Corporation	0.013	0.146
3	1948	National Distilled Products[2]	Blum Philip & Co	0.013	0.130

1950s

Top M&A deals worldwide by value from 1950 to 1959:

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	[1] Inflation adjusted (in billions 2017 USD)
1	1956	Georgia Pacific[2]	Hammond Lumber Company	0.008	0.661
2	1953	Chrysler Corporation[2]	Briggs Automotive	0.007	0.628
3	1954	Minute Maid Corporation[2]	Snow Corporation	0.004	0.348
4	1956	Pabco Products[2]	Sinclair Mines	0.004	0.333
5	1953	Peabody Coal Company[2]	Fireboard Products	0.003	0.307
6	1957	America Petrofina[2]	American Liberty Oil	0.003	0.223
7	1959	N A F I Corp[2]	Oil and Gas Property Management	0.002	0.156
8	1957	Philip Morris[2]	Milprint Inc	0.002	0.140
9	1958	McGraw Edinson Co[2]	National Electric Coil	0.002	0.129
10	1955	Phil & Reading[2]	Union Underwear Co	0.001	0.131

1960s

Top M&A deals worldwide by value from 1960 to 1969:

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	[1] Inflation adjusted (in billions 2017 USD)
1	1969	Xerox Corporation[2]	Science Data Systems	0.910	6
2	1968	Sun Oil[2]	Sunray D X Oil Co.	0.840	6
3	1966	Atlantic Refining[2]	Richfield Oil	0.535	4
4	1968	Kennecott Copper[2]	Peabody Coal Corporation	0.475	3
5	1968	Occidental Petroleum[2]	Hooker Chemical	0.483	3
6	1968	Loews Theatres[2]	Lorillard P Corporation	0.450	3
7	1968	Ling Tehco Vought[2]	Jones and Laughlin Steel Company	0.425	3
8	1968	Glen Alden Corporation[2]	Schenley Industries	0.421	3
9	1968	Singer Corporation[2]	General Precision Equipment Corporation	0.404	3
10	1968	Montgomery Ward[2]	Container Corporation of America	0.300	2
11	1968	Northwest Industries[2]	Phil & Reading	0.300	2

1970s

Top M&A deals worldwide by value from 1970 to 1979:

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	[1] Inflation adjusted (in billions 2017 USD)
1	1977	Atlantic Richfield Company[2]	Anaconda Copper	0.784	3
2	1978	Johns Manville[2]	Olinkraft Inc	0.585	2
3	1977	Kennecott Copper[2]	Carborundum Corporation	0.567	2
4	1978	Philip Morris[2]	Seven-Up Bottling Co	0.520	2
5	1972	Colgate Palmolive[2]	Kendall Co	0.514	3
6	1978	Beatrice Foods Co[2]	Tropicana Products	0.490	2
7	1974	International Paper[2]	General Crude Oil	0.486	2
8	1978	Unilever[2]	National Starch & Chemical	0.485	2
9	1974	Burmah Oil[2]	Signal Oil & Gas	0.480	2
10	1970	Warner–Lambert[2]	Parke-Davis	0.413	3

1980s

Top M&A deals worldwide by value from 1980 to 1989:

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	[1] Inflation adjusted (in billions 2018 USD)
1	1989	Kohlberg Kravis Roberts[4]	RJR Nabisco	31	61
2	1984	Standard Oil of California[5]	Gulf Oil	13.2	31
3	1988	Philip Morris	Kraft Foods	13.1	27
4	1987	BP[6]	Standard Oil of Ohio	7.8	17
5	1981	Du Pont[7]	Conoco	7.3	20
6	1986	Kohlberg Kravis Roberts	Beatrice Cos.	6.2	13
7	1984	Mobil[8]	Superior Oil Co.	5.7	13
8	1985	R.J. Reynolds Industries	Nabisco Brands	4.9	11
9	1986	Burroughs Corporation	Sperry Corporation	4.8	11
10	1986	Kohlberg Kravis Roberts	Safeway Stores	4.3	9
11	1982	Occidental Petroleum Corporation[9]	Cities Service Company	4	10

1990s

Top 10 M&A deals worldwide by value from 1990 to 1999:^[10]

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	Inflation adjusted (in billions 2016 USD)
1	1999	Vodafone Group[11]	Mannesmann	202	297
2	1999	Pfizer[12]	Warner-Lambert	111.8	164
3	1998	Exxon[13][14]	Mobil	77.2	116
4	1998	Citicorp	Travelers Group	73	110
5	1999	SBC Communications	Ameritech Corporation	63	93
6	1999	Vodafone Group	AirTouch Communications	60	88
7	1998	Bell Atlantic[15]	GTE	53.36	80
8	1998	BP[16]	Amoco	53	80
9	1999	Qwest Communications	US WEST	48	71
10	1997	Worldcom	MCI Communications	42	64

2000s

Top 10 M&A deals worldwide by value from 2000 to 2010:^[10]

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	Inflation adjusted (in billions 2016 USD)
1	2000	AOL Inc.[17][18]	Time Warner	165	234
2	2007	RFS Holdings BV	ABN Amro BV	98	116
3	2000	Glaxo Wellcome Plc.	SmithKline Beecham Plc.	76	108
4	2004	Royal Dutch Petroleum	Shell Transport & Trading Co.	75	97
5	2006	AT&T Inc.[19][20]	BellSouth Corporation	73	88
6	2001	Comcast Corporation	AT&T Broadband	72	100
7	2009	Pfizer Inc.	Wyeth	68	78
8	2002	Pfizer Inc.	Pharmacia Corporation	60	81
9	2004	JPMorgan Chase & Co.[21]	Bank One Corporation	59	76
10	2008	InBev Inc.	Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.	52	59

2010s

Top M&A deals worldwide by value (larger than $20 billion) from 2011 to 2020:

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD) (with debt)	Inflation adjusted (in billions USD) (with debt)	Ref
1	2013	Verizon Communications	Verizon Wireless	130.0	137	[22][N 1]
2	2015	Dow Chemical	DuPont	130.0	134	[23]
3	2015	Anheuser-Busch InBev	SAB Miller	130.0	134	[N 2]
4	2015	Heinz	Kraft	100.0	103	[24][N 3]
5	2018	AT&T Inc.	Time Warner (renamed to WarnerMedia)	85.4 — 108.7	87 — 111	[25]
6	2016	Linde AG	Praxair	85.0	85	[26]
7	2015	Charter Communications	Time Warner Cable	78.7	81	[27][N 4]
8	2018	The Walt Disney Company	21st Century Fox	71.3 — 85.1	71 — 85	[28][29]
9	2015	Actavis	Allergan, Inc	70.5	73
10	2015	Royal Dutch Shell	BG Group	70.0 — 81.9	72 — 85	[30][31]
11	2017	CVS Health	Aetna	70.0	70	[32][33]
12	2015	Dell	EMC Corporation	67.0	69
13	2018	Takeda Pharmaceutical	Shire plc	62.0	62	[34]
14	2017	Essilor	Luxottica	58.5	59	[35]
15	2016	Bayer	Monsanto	54.5 — 63.5	56 — 65	[36][37]
16	2018	Cigna	Express Scripts	53.0 — 67.0	53 — 67	[38]
17	2015	British American Tobacco	R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company	49.4	49	[N 5]
18	2015	AT&T Inc.	DirecTV	49.0 — 67.1	51 — 69	[N 6]
19	2016	ChemChina	Syngenta	43.0	44
20	2015	Medtronic	Covidien	42.3	44
21	2015	Teva Pharmaceutical Industries	Actavis Generics	40.5	42	[39][40][41][N 7]
22	2018	Comcast Corporation	Sky plc	39.0	39	[42][43]
23	2018	E.ON SE	Innogy SE	38.5	39	[44]
24	2015	Berkshire Hathaway	Precision Castparts	37.2	38	[45]
25	2016	Shire plc	Baxalta	32.0 — 35	33 — 36	[46][47]
26	2016	Softbank	ARM Holdings	32.0	33
27	2017	United Technologies	Rockwell Collins	30.0	31
28	2012	T-Mobile US	MetroPCS	29.0	31
29	2013	Berkshire Hathaway 3G Capital	Heinz	28.0	29
30	2016	Microsoft	LinkedIn	26.2	27	[48]
31	2018	T-Mobile US	Sprint Corporation	26.0	26	[49]
32	2016	Abbott Laboratories	St Jude Medical	25.0 — 30.5	25 — 31
33	2017	Agrium	Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc	25.0	25
34	2016	Century Link	Level 3 Communications	24.0	24
35	2018	Marathon Petroleum Corp	Andeavor	23.0 — 35.6	23 — 36	[50]
36	2016	Johnson Controls	Tyco International	22.0	22
37	2018	Atlantia Grupo ACS	Abertis	22.0	22	[51]
38	2018	Vodafone Group	Liberty Global (Germany and eastern Europe)	21.8	22	[52]
39	2013	Softbank	Sprint Corporation	21.6	23
40	2018	Keurig Green Mountain	Dr Pepper Snapple Group	21.0	21

State owned enterprises

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Total asset value (billions USD)	Inflation adjusted (billions USD)	Note
1	2017	Shenhua Group	China Guodian Corporation	278	278	In August 2017, SASAC announced that China Guodian Corporation (one of China's largest coal-fired power generators) and Shenhua Group (China’s biggest coal miner) would be jointly restructured, with Shenhua Group becoming China Energy Investment Corporation and absorbing China Guodian Corporation to become the largest power company in the world by installed capacity.[53][54]
2	2015	China Minmetals	China Metallurgical Group	245.6	254	In December 2016, China continued its consolidation drive, focussing on their mining sector where China Minmetals Corp took over equipment maker China Metallurgical Group Corp. Minmetals was China’s biggest steel and base metals trader with revenue of more than $50 billion last year, whilst China Metallurgical Group reported revenues of more than $33 billion.[55][56]
3	2017	Sinograin	China National Cotton Reserves Corp.	213	213	In January 2017, the Chinese government confirmed the merger of China National Cotton Reserves Corp and Sinograin as part of their drive to reduce the number of State Owned Enterprises to a target of 100.[57]
4	2018	ChemChina	Sinochem	120.0	120	Merger of the Chinese state-controlled ChemChina and Sinochem in a deal reported to be worth $120 billion.[58] The merger would create the largest entity in the industrial chemicals industry, overtaking BASF. [59][60][61][62]
5	2015	China Power Investment	State Nuclear Power Technology	112.6	116	In June 2015 the Chinese cabinet approved plans to merge state owned China Power Investment (CPIC) with State Nuclear Power Technology increasing the exports of nuclear technology from the country, creating the new entity China Power New Energy Development Company Limited, with assets of more than $112.6 billion) and annual revenues of more than $32.6 billion.[63][64]
6	2017	China National Nuclear Corp	China Nuclear Engineering & Construction	99	99	Merger of China’s second largest nuclear power producer, and their top nuclear power plant builder.[65]

Largest ever deals which have failed to complete

This lists catalogues M&A (above $20 billion in transaction value) deals which were confirmed, but for a number of reasons, failed to complete.

Rank	Year	Purchaser	Purchased	Transaction value (in billions USD)	Inflation adjusted value	Note
1	2015	Pfizer	Allergan, plc	160	165	The deal fell through over changes made to tax inversion legislation by the US Government.[66]
2	2008	BHP Billiton	Rio Tinto	148	168	As commodity prices fell in value, the deal became too risky for BHP Billiton to complete.[67][66]
3	2017	Kraft Heinz	Unilever plc	143	143	Kraft's offer was an 18% premium to Unilever's closing share price the day before the announcement, however Unilever Executives claimed the deal undervalued the company[68] as well as job-cut implications and regulator approval issues.[69] The bid was formally dropped on February 19, citing the complexities of acquiring control in a Dutch entity without the support of shareholders.[70]
4	1999	MCI WorldCom	Sprint	129	190	The US Department of Justice and European Commission prohibited the merger on competition grounds, with the DoJ filing a lawsuit against the transaction.[66][71][72]
5	2014	Pfizer	Astra Zeneca	123	127	Significant concerns were raised by the UK Government over job security, in the end leading to a deal being abandoned due to resistance from the AstraZeneca Board.[66]
6	2018	Broadcom Ltd	Qualcomm Inc	121	121	Qualcomm claimed that Broadcom had undervalued the business but did propose to meet Broadcom officials, with the initial offer of $121 billion ($140 billion with debt).[73][74] On February 21, Broadcom reduced their offer to $117 billion in light of Qualcomms increased bid for NXP Semconductors.[75]
7	2018	Broadcom Ltd [N 8]	Qualcomm Inc	117	117	On February 21, Broadcom reduced their offer to $117 billion in light of Qualcomms increased bid for NXP Semconductors.[75] The deal was effectively blocked after US President Donald Trump blocked any deal based upon national security grounds.[76]
8	1999	MCI WorldCom	Sprint	111	163	The Board of Sprint claimed that the first deal undervalued the company and thus rejected the proposal.[66]
9	2014	Pfizer	Astra Zeneca	106	110	AstraZeneca claimed the deal undervalued the company.[77]
10	2018	Broadcom Ltd	Qualcomm Inc	103	103	$130 billion with assumed debt ($103 billion without), Qualcomm shareholders would get $60 in cash and $10 per share in Broadcom shares. Qualcomm rejected Broadcom's $103 billion takeover bid, saying the offer “dramatically” undervalued the U.S. company.[78][79]
11	2014	Pfizer	Astra Zeneca	99	102	AstraZeneca claimed the deal undervalued the company.[80]
12	2016	Honeywell	United Technologies	90	92	Honeywell dropped a bid to acquire United Technologies, citing potential regulatory hurdles.[81][82]
13	1999	Pfizer	Warner–Lambert	82.4	121	Pfizer made a hostile bid, just after the announcement of a $72 billion deal with Wyeth, the eventual purchase price would be in excess of $90 billion.[83][84][85]
14	2014	21st Century Fox	Time Warner	80	83	21st Century Fox abandoned its takeover Time Warner Inc., due to the unwillingness of the Time Warner Board to engage with the Fox Executives. This also caused a sharp dip in Fox's stock price which made a deal unattractive to Fox shareholders.[86][87]
15	1999	Wyeth	Warner–Lambert	72	106	Wyeth confirmed it has agreed a $72 billion deal with Warner–Lambert, causing Pfizer to make a hostile bid, just after the announcement.[83][84][85]
16	2004	Comcast	Disney	66	86	Comcast Executives abandoned the deal to buy Walt Disney after both investors and Disney Executives failed to agree on the acquisition.[88]
17	1999	Wyeth	Warner–Lambert	65	95	The two companies discussed a potential merger, uniting two of the largest pharmaceutical companies. This was eventually thwarted by Pfizer, in order to maintain control of the blockbuster drug - Lipitor - with their $111.8 billion offer.[89][90]
18	2018	Comcast	21st Century Fox	65	65	Main Article: Proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox
19	2018	Takeda Pharmaceutical	Shire	62.5	63	Third bid, unanimously rejected by the Shire Board, who concluded that it significantly undervalue the Company, its growth prospects as well as pipeline.[91]
20	2018	Takeda Pharmaceutical	Shire	62.1	62	Fourth bid with enhanced cash component, super-ceded by a fifth bid on Apri 24.[92]
21	2018	Takeda Pharmaceutical	Shire	61	61	Second bid, unanimously rejected by the Shire Board, who concluded that it significantly undervalue the Company, its growth prospects as well as pipeline.[91]
22	2018	Takeda Pharmaceutical	Shire	58.2	58	First bid, unanimously rejected by the Shire Board, who concluded that it significantly undervalue the Company, its growth prospects as well as pipeline.[91]
23	2014	AbbVie	Shire	54	56	The deal fell through over changes made to tax inversion legislation by the US Government.[93]
24	2017	Disney	21st Century Fox	52.4	52	Main Article: Proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox
25	2015	Monsanto	Syngenta	46.5	48	Monsanto dropped its hostile bid for Syngenta, refocusing on its five-year plan to double earnings and avoid a backlash from large shareholders.[94] Subsequently, Bayer offered to purchase Monsanto, with ChemChina offering to acquire Syngenta.
26	2015	Anthem Inc	Cigna Corp	47	49	The transaction was blocked by US Federal Judges on grounds of diminished competition and the 'irreparable harm' that would be done to the US health insurance market.[95]
27	2012	EADS	BAE Systems	45	48	Lack of investor support, coupled with opposition from the UK Government, German Government and the French Government (which also has a direct holding in EADS).
28	2014	Comcast	Time Warner Cable	45.2	47	Main Article: Attempted purchase of Time Warner Cable by Comcast
29	2016	Qualcomm	NXP Semiconductors	44	45	Qualcomm raised their offer from $110 per share to $127.50 per share after pressure from activist investors.[96] In 2018, China decline approve of the merger, leading to its cancelation on July 26, 2018.[97]
30	2001	General Electric	Honeywell	42	58	The EU Competition commission recommended that the commission reject GE-Honeywell, the commission argued that the merger would reduce competition - specifically within the aerospace industry - which could end up generating higher prices for consumers.[98]
31	2001	United Technologies	Honeywell	40	57	United Technologies ended merger talks with Honeywell after it had emerged that General Electric had dealt a counter-offer.[99][100]
32	2015	Teva Pharmaceutical Industries	Mylan	40	41	In April, Teva offered to acquire Mylan for $40 billion,[101] only a fortnight after Mylan offered to acquire Perrigo for $29 billion.[102] Teva's offer for Mylan is contingent on Mylan abandoning its acquisition of Perrigo.[103] Mylan stated in June 2015 that Teva’s disclosure that it had a 1.35 percent stake in Mylan violated US anti-trust rules.
33	2011	AT&T	T-Mobile US	39	42	On August 31, 2011, the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice formally announced that it would seek to block the takeover, and filed a lawsuit to such effect in federal court.[104]
34	2016	Halliburton	Baker Hughes	38	39	The transaction was terminated after facing opposition from U.S. and European antitrust regulators.[105]
35	2015	Aetna	Humana	37	38	The transaction was blocked by US Federal Judges on grounds of diminished competition and the 'irreparable harm' that would be done to the US health insurance market.[95]
36	2014	Omnicom[106]	Publicis	35	36	Proposed merger as Publicis Omnicom Group. Omnicom wanted their people to occupy the CEO, CFO and general counsel jobs. Uncertainty over the deal lead to a drop in revenue of $1.5 billion in the period.[106]
37	2018	Comcast Corporation	Sky plc	34.0	34	Comcast offered £17.28 per share, exceeding Fox's offer of £15.67 per share, in a blind auction set up by the UK's Takeover Panel.[42][43]
38	2018	21st Century Fox	Sky plc	32.5	33	Fox raised their offer $32.5 billion for Sky.
39	2018	Comcast	Sky plc	31	31	Comcast offered $31 billion for Sky plc.[107][108][109][110]
40	2002	Hughes Electronics Corp.	EchoStar Communications Corp.	29	39	US and state anti-trust enforcers filed a lawsuit to halt the deal, claiming that the deal would eliminate competition and adversely effect consumers.[111]
41	2017	Emerson Electric	Rockwell Automation	29	29	Rejected as Rockwell believed the offer still undervalued the company.[112]
42	2017	PPG Industries	Akzo Nobel	28.8	29	Akzo again rejected PPGs bid, citing the deal still undervalues the company, as well as potentially facing antitrust risks, and not addressing other concerns such as "cultural differences"
43	2017	Emerson Electric	Rockwell Automation	27.6	28	Rejected as Rockwell believed the offer undervalued the company. The $27.6 billion was made up of $107.50 per share in cash and the balance being paid in 225 million shares of Emerson stock.[113][114][115]
44	2015	Mylan	Perrigo	26	27	In order for the hostile takeover to go through successfully, Mylan needed 50% of Perrigos shares to be tendered under the deal. However, only 40% or 58 million shares were tendered and the hostile takeover fell through.[116]
45	2016	Deutsche Börse AG	London Stock Exchange Group	26	27	The merger was prohibited on competition grounds by the EU Commission.[117][118][119]
46	2017	PPG Industries	Akzo Nobel	26	26	Akzo rejected the unsolicited offer, claiming the revised offer was still too low, Akzo claimed that key stakeholder issues as well as uncertainties and risks that had already been raised in response to earlier offers had not been answered proposal.[120]
47	2004	Johnson & Johnson	Guidant	25.4	33	Johnson & Johnson announced that it was acquiring Guidant on December 15, 2004, for $76 a share, with the deal being approved later approved on April 27, 2005 by Guidant shareholders. However on May 25 of the same year, Guidant reported 26 cases of implantable defibrillator failure, including a death. Johnson & Johnson announced the possibility of them pulling out from the deal, Guidant then sued Johnson & Johnson in an attempt to enforce the acquisition. However they later re-negotiated a lower price of $21.5 billion.
48	2006	Boston Scientific	Guidant	25.0	30	A day after Johnson & Johnson raised their price for Guidant to $23.2 billion, Boston Scientific announced a further increased offer.
49	2005	Boston Scientific	Guidant	24.6	31	With the lower re-negotiated a lower price of $21.5 billion between Johnson & Johnson and Guidant, Boston Scientific announced an unsolicited offer of $24.6 billion for Guidant (an offer of $72 per share of Guidant, $36 in cash and a fixed number of Boston Scientific shares valued at $36 a share).
50	2006	Johnson & Johnson	Guidant	24.2	29	After Boston Scientific increased their offer to $25 billion, Johnson & Johnson further increased their offer to $24.2 billion.
51	2017	PPG Industries	Akzo Nobel	24	24	Akzo rejected the unsolicited offer, claiming the revised offer was still too low
52	2006	Johnson & Johnson	Guidant	23.2	28	After the re-negotiated a lower price of $21.5 billion was trumped by Boston Scientifics offer of $24.6 billion, Johnson & Johnson raised their offer to $23.2 billion.
53	2017	Clariant	Huntsman	20	20	After months of pressure from activist investors, the companies announced they would abandon their merger plans, with investors citing a reduction in shareholder value as the cause.[121]

See also

• List of largest companies by revenue
• List of companies by employees
• List of companies by profit and loss
• List of public corporations by market capitalization
• List of largest pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions
• List of largest corporate spin-offs

Notes

References