It was a year marked more by failure than success. Growing differences in what buyers and sellers thought assets were worth, spurred on by a higher cost of capital, coupled with economic and geopolitical uncertainty, made the past 12 months a tough environment for dealmaking.
With plenty of transactions on hiatus, it was a year focused more on portfolio management. EBOS’ mooted $3.75 billion purchase of TPG Capital’s Greencross vets and pets business is just one example of a stellar deal that would have ordinarily had little trouble completing. And we know of some two dozen (less stellar) transactions privately under discussion that haven’t made it far.
Sarah ThompsonStreet Talk editorSarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Email Sarah at sarah.thompson@afr.com
Kanika SoodCo-editor, Street TalkKanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column. Email Kanika at kanika.sood@afr.com.au
Emma RapaportCo-editor, Street TalkEmma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review. Connect with Emma on Twitter. Email Emma at emma.rapaport@afr.com
