According to information collected by M&A database Zephyr, there were 1,872 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) worth a combined $103.53 billion targeting North American companies announced during May. This represented a 14% decline by value on the $120.12 billion announced in April and a 59% decrease year-on-year (May 2015: $253.7 billion).

Volume dropped at the slower rate of 4% month-on-month and 15% year-on-year (April 2016: 1,954 deals; May 2015: 2,213 deals).

Zephyr shows that all of the top 20 deals by value were worth more than $1.0 billion in May and were predominately domestic U.S. deals, with the exception of three deals involving Canadian firms. The largest M&A deal by value announced during the month was Quintiles Transnational’s $8.75 billion agreement to acquire Connecticut-based healthcare industry consultancy IMS Health Holdings.

Companies operating in the primary sector (agriculture, mining, etc.) received the most investment in May, as deals worth a combined $14.01 billion were announced, representing a 69% increase on the $8.27 billion notched up in April and a 4% rise on $13.52 billion in May 2015. These primary sectors were worth almost double second placed machinery, equipment, furniture and recycling, which was targeted in deals worth $7.36 billion over the four weeks under review and was closely followed by the chemicals, rubber and plastics sector with $7.23 billion.

Lisa Wright, Zephyr director, commented, “May turned out to be a disappointing month for M&A in North America as two months of consecutive value increases came to an end. Declining deal numbers appears to have subdued total deal values somewhat over the last four weeks, despite all of the top 20 deals breaking the $1.0 billion-barrier. The first half of 2016 has undoubtedly been disappointing in terms of deal making, particularly when compared to the highs recorded in 2015. As dealmakers look towards the second half of the year, they may take comfort from the fact that Canadian investment levels improved month-on-month while private equity investment levels were largely unchanged in May.”

Meanwhile, the Zephyr database shows that the value of private equity and venture capital (PE and VC) investment in North American companies in May declined slightly month-on-month as $20.59 billion was notched up over the course of the four weeks, compared to $20.69 billion in April. A similar result was seen in the U.S. $19.94 billion was invested there in May (April: $19.75 billion), while investment in Canadian businesses declined 31% to $650 million.