North American power deals: Q4 2011 mergers & acquisitions report
This PwC report presents an analysis of North American deal activity in the power and utilities industry.
Q4 2011 key trends
- In Q4 2011, the number of announced deals greater than $50 million had fallen 33 percent to six from nine deals in Q3 2011, the lowest level in many years. However, the total deal value increased 119 percent from the previous period in 2010 due to one large deal. The Kinder Morgan / El Paso Corp $36 billion deal accounted for 84 percent of total deal value of $42.6 billion.
- The average deal value of announced deals greater than $50 million increased to $7.1 billion from $1.5 billion over the same period in 2010, primarily due to one large strategic deal between El Paso Corp and Kinder Morgan.
- Deal volume in the fourth quarter of 2011 was down slightly over the previous quarter, putting the quarter-over-quarter deal volume at 25 announced deals, a decrease of 29 percent.
- The fourth quarter deal value was marked by two large deals greater than $1 billion, compared to one large deal in the previous quarter. However, large deal activity had fallen 60 percent to two from six large deals in Q4 2010.
- Strategic investors dominated investor group with 100 percent of all acquisitions greater than $50 million.