Disclosed M&A deal value in the asset and wealth management industry rose 544% in the first half of 2016 from the year earlier period while the number of announced deals declined 11%, according to a report released Thursday by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Total disclosed deal value in the first half of 2016 was $5.8 billion, compared to $900 million in the first half of 2015 and $8.8 billion in the second half of 2015. There were 64 announced deals in the first half of this year, compared to 72 in each of the first and second halves of 2015.
IPO activity in the asset and wealth management sector has become silent. Not a single IPO was announced in the first half of this year, and the pipeline continues to remain soft, the report stated.
Total announced merger-and-acquisition deals in the alternative asset management subsector increased 78% compared to the first half of 2015 and 7% compared to the second half of 2015. This growth was driven by strong deal activity involving private equity targets, reversing the slowdown seen in 2015, the report said.
During the first half of 2016, there were 10 announced deals involving hedge fund targets, compared to seven in 2015's first half and 11 in its second.
Private equity deal volume totaled six in the first six months of 2016, compared to two in the first half of last year and four in the latter half of 2015.
Deal activity in the mutual fund sector during the first half of this year, meanwhile, was slow compared to the prior year — there were only eight announced deals compared to 13 each in the first half and second half 2015.
The top five deals based on disclosed deal value in the asset and wealth management sector are: Ares Capital's $3.2 billion acquisition of American Capital; Affiliated Managers Group's $800 million acquisition of five minority stake investments in hedge fund managers from Goldman Sachs' minority interest platform, Petershill; Huatai International Finance's $780 million acquisition of AssetMark; State Street's $480 million acquisition of GE Asset Management; and OM Asset Management's $240 million acquisition of Landmark Partners.
