Companies around the world spent a record $5.04 trillion on acquisitions in 2015, according to Dealogic, as slow worldwide economic growth and low interest rates pushed companies to combine forces.
Dealogic, a financial data provider, says the value of global deals soared 37% in 2015, The Associated Press reports. The highest price tag came in November, when Pfizer and Allergan announced the biggest pharmaceutical deal in history.
Low interest rates since the Great Recession have made it cheaper for companies to borrow money to pay for acquisitions, and because the global economy only grew slowly this year, companies decided it made more sense to buy their competitors instead of trying to boost their sales on their own.
The acquisitions came from businesses in all the major sectors—from pharmaceuticals to beer, energy to chemicals, and computers and software to cable television.
The largest energy sector acquisition came when Royal Dutch Shell agreed to buy BG Group in April. Oil prices had taken a steep fall from their 2014 highs and they were going to get a lot worse. Oil and gas company Shell agreed to buy BG Group for $69.83 billion to expand its liquid natural gas business. Natural gas prices have tumbled since then, and in December they reached their lowest levels in 16 years.
The largest deal of the year—and the second biggest merger ever—came in November when Pfizer agreed to buy Allergan for nearly $150 billion.
The Associated Press has the full story.
