A new PwC report says the value of global mergers and acquisitions in the aerospace and defense sector was $4B in the first quarter of 2019, down 73 percent from the prior year period and 45 percent lower than the 10-year average.
PwC said the number of M&A deals in the A&D sector dropped by 14 percent to 89 transactions in Q1 2019 and the average deal size was $139.7M, which reflects a 63 percent decline from last year™s first quarter.
The report associated the drop in the average deal size with General Dynamics™ (NYSE: GD) $9.7B acquisition of CSRA, œwith volumes easing off both prior year and the ten-year average.
œUnderpinnings remain solid for the industry, both from a commercial and defense perspective. The question is whether those strong fundamentals drive deal making to recapture lost traction in the quarter or become obscured by uncertainty throughout the remainder of 2019, said Bob Long, U.S. aerospace and defense deals leader at PwC.
The Asia and Oceania region accounted for 62 percent of the total deal value in Q1 2019, while North America had a 37 percent share of the deal value.
