It’s been a record-breaking and eye-opening year for all kinds of transactions in the corporate world.
By nearly any measure, deal making in 2021 was one for the record books. “These are activity levels that I have never seen before at any time, having been in the business over the last quarter-century,” said Stephan Feldgoise, Goldman Sachs’s co-head of global M&A. Many corporate boards felt pressure from investors to bulk up their businesses, propelling M&A higher. Others were ordered to slim down and focus, with General Electric, Johnson & Johnson and Toshiba all announcing plans to split their operations within days of each other, generating more transactions — and fees for their advisers. Private equity deal making was on fire, with a record $1.1 trillion in deals struck this year, according to Refinitiv. Feldgoise said that’s because buyout firms have enjoyed huge returns on asset sales and, having raised enormous war chests in recent years, have more money than ever that they need to put to work. Yet, what was by far the hottest deal trend of 2020, the special-purpose acquisition company, quieted down after a rollicking start to 2021. Experts chalk up the drop to a glut of blank-check funds hitting the market: SPACs comprised 20 percent of mergers in the first quarter. The flood of SPACs made it harder for these funds to raise financing, while poor post-deal performance and closer scrutiny by regulators interrupted the party mood. Aside from these record-breaking trends,2021 had plenty of memorable moments: Media moguls hatched audacious deals, geopolitics scrambled companies’ plans and meme stocks became a thing. Here are some of the most consequential deal making developments of the year, according to the DealBook team. — Michael J. de la Merced Dealmakers of the year: Step forward, David Zaslav and Keith Creel. Mr. Zaslav, the chief of Discovery, maneuvered himself to the helm of a blockbuster media deal that combined his firm with AT&T’s larger WarnerMedia unit in a $43 billion deal. Mr. Creel, who leads the railroad operator Canadian Pacific, beat out his former employer, Canadian National, in a long-running bidding war for Kansas City Southern that had more twists and turns than a steep mountain pass. What’s more, his $31 billion winning bid was lower than the rival offer, but won the day when it brought more regulatory certainty. Dealbreakers of the year: Hello, Lina Khan and Gary Gensler. As part of his push to rein in corporate power, President Biden’s picks to run key regulatory agencies — Ms. Khan at the Federal Trade Commission and Mr.
