Ranked: S&P Global’s $44bn mega-deal tops list of biggest 2020 acquisitions
In what was a tough year for businesses across the world, it was a fruitful one for 6,000 mergers and acquisitions.
While the pandemic threatened companies of all sizes, some managed not just to survive but to continue growing in the last 12 months.
After a year unlike any other, which acquisitions were the biggest and what kind of industries were the world’s biggest firms investing in?
Hundreds of billions invested
The biggest acquisition was a merger with US rating agency S&P Global buying London-based market data firm IHS Markit in a deal worth $44bn.
O2’s $38.9bn merger with Virgin Media was one of the biggest name deals, ranking as the third biggest acquisition of 2020.
Business communications platform Slack, which many relied on for remote working in the past year, was part of the seventh biggest acquisition after Salesforce bought it for £27.7bn.
Top ten biggest acquisitions of 2020
| Rank | Acquiree | Acquirer | Price (USD) | Acquisition Type |
| 1 | IHS Markit | S&P Global | $44bn | Merger |
| 2 | Arm Holdings | Nvidia | $40bn | Acquisition |
| 3 | O2 | Virgin Media | $38.9bn | Merger |
| 4 | Xilinx | AMD | $35bn | Acquisition |
| 5 | Willis Towers Watson | Aon plc | $30bn | Acquisition |
| 6 | Sberbank | Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation | $29bn | Acquisition |
| 7 | Slack | Salesforce | $27bn | Acquisition |
| 8 | Immunomedics | Gilead Sciences | $21bn | Acquisition |
| 8 | Speedway | 7-Eleven | $21bn | Acquisition |
| 10 | Maxim Integrated | Analog Devices | $20.9bn | Acquisition |
Software sector shines
The software sector had more activity than any other, with 1,281 acquisitions in 2020.
Information technology closely followed, with more than 1,000 purchases showing the growing strength of the tech industry.
The rapidly changing landscape of the healthcare sector saw 634 acquisitions as companies tried to keep up with changing technology.
Top five most invested industries
| Rank | Industry | Number Of Acquisitions |
| 1 | Software | 1,281 |
| 2 | Information Technology | 1,010 |
| 3 | Health Care | 634 |
| 4 | Manufacturing | 601 |
| 5 | Financial Services | 466 |
Wave of UK dealmaking
In the UK, the pandemic has acted as a catalyst for a wave of private equity takeovers of UK firms, with their value reaching their highest level since the financial crisis.
While coronavirus initially triggered a slowdown in dealmaking, private equity houses gained momentum by the autumn with a string of high-profile and high-value deals.
Some 123 UK companies, including household names Asda, AA and Butlin’s owner Bourne Group have been taken private since the outbreak of coronavirus last year.
It brings the value of private equity deals since the start of the pandemic to £52.6bn, with 19 more deals worth £16.6bn in the pipeline.