Engineering growth: Global engineering & construction industry mergers and acquisitions analysis - 3Q 2009

Engineering growth is a quarterly analysis of global merger and acquisition activity in the engineering and construction industry. Each edition includes a review of overall deal activity for the quarter and year to date and a summary of large deals. Also included is a spotlight on a PwC service and a case study.

This quarter, the Engineering growth report takes a deeper look at the impact prospective energy and climate policies may have on business transactions. Our special report highlights the role of cap-and-trade on climate change legislation, the deal market's response, company brand and reputation considerations, and the interests of the growing number of environmentally aware stakeholders.

PwC's third-quarter engineering and construction mergers and acquisition analysis indicates that the challenging global macroeconomic environment continues to limit the pace of deal activity, yet the third quarter of 2009 showed signs that the market may be setting up for recovery.

Our analysis revealed that the pace of third-quarter deal activity continued to exhibit the year-over-year weakness of the first and second quarters of 2009. However, on a sequential basis, the third quarter’s deal volume did exhibit a modest improvement, which bodes well for the fourth quarter and makes it reasonable to believe that the deal environment may be shaping up for a tempered recovery into 2010.