We start this year in a flurry of acquisition activity, with reports of significant purchases in the UK, Europe, the United States and Australia.
Ironically, this comes in the wake of our Year in Review report last week which noted a slowing of acquisition activity in 2018. Part of the reason for the slow-down was that there is lots of integration work happening around the world as a result of previous buy-outs. The major purchases recently have been aimed at broadening markets rather than merely adding volume. It seems the major players are tired of competing in a limited field and realise they can earn more by chasing fresh prospects and offering more services to existing customers.
Why the sudden rush of M&A activity? Maybe it's just co-incidence - or maybe it's a sign of what lies ahead.