Mergers and acquisitions recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020 reached $1tn, making it the second consecutive trillion-dollar quarter, according to Refinitiv.
In a 14 December statement, the data provider said that the quarter was boosted by British drug giant AstraZeneca’s $38.8bn bid for Boston-based pharmaceutical company Alexion. Since July, the deals struck have totalled $2.1tn in value, making it the second highest second-half total since Refinitiv’s records started in the 1970s.