M&A Summary and Outlook
- Q3 2020 saw North American M&A volume of 2,714 transactions and total deal value of $361.1 billion.
- Within the consumer sector, there were 192 transactions in Q3 2020, compared to 242 transactions in Q3 2019, representing a 21% decrease from last year. The sector is on pace for 777 transactions in 2020 compared to last year’s total of 995—a substantial decrease of 22% largely due to effects of COVID-19.
Public Company Performance
- Public company EV/EBITDA multiples have increased with an average consumer multiple of 12.1x in Q3 2020 compared to an average multiple of 11.5x in Q2 2020. The average EV/EBITDA multiple in Q3 2019 was 13.2x.
- After Q3 2020, only one consumer sub-sector (Beverage) has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past five years.
