• Skip to content
  • Skip to navigation

Grant Thornton uses cookies to monitor the performance of this website and improve user experience.

To find out more about cookies, what they are and how we use them, please see our privacy notice, which also provides information on how to delete cookies from your hard drive.

Global site
  • Global site
  • Algeria
  • Botswana
  • Cameroon
  • Egypt
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Guinea
  • Kenya
  • Libya
  • Malawi
  • Mauritius
  • Morocco
  • Namibia
  • Nigeria
  • Senegal
  • South Africa
  • Togo
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe
  • Anguilla
  • Antigua
  • Argentina
  • Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St. Maarten
  • Bahamas
  • Barbados
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Canada LLP
  • Canada RCGT
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • Dominica
  • Ecuador
  • El Salvador
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala
  • Honduras
  • Mexico
  • Montserrat
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Puerto Rico
  • St Kitts
  • St Lucia
  • St Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Trinidad & Tobago
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • United States
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela
  • Afghanistan
  • Australia
  • Bangladesh
  • Cambodia
  • China
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Malaysia
  • Mongolia
  • Myanmar
  • New Zealand
  • Pakistan
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam
  • Albania
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Channel Islands
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Gibraltar
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Isle of Man
  • Israel
  • Italy - Bernoni
  • Italy - Ria
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kosovo
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Netherlands
  • North Macedonia
  • Northern Ireland
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Serbia
  • Slovak Republic
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • UK
  • Uzbekistan
  • Bahrain
  • Egypt
  • Jordan
  • Kuwait
  • Lebanon
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Yemen
Grant Thorton Logo

Grant Thornton Logo Grant Thornton Logo

EN JA VI
  • Insights
  • Services
  • Meet our people
  • Locations
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Solutions for your business
  • Audit and Assurance Services
  • Tax Services
  • Advisory Services
  • Business Process Solutions
  • Digital Advisory
  • International Corporate Structuring Services
  • Japan Desk
  • Korea Desk
  • China Desk
Audit and Assurance Services Home
  • Audit Services
  • Audit Quality
  • Audit Approach
Tax Services Home
  • Licensing services
  • International tax planning
  • Expatriate tax planning
  • Tax advisory
  • Tax compliance services
  • Tax health check
  • Transfer Pricing
  • Tax due diligence
  • Customs and international trade
  • M&A Transaction
  • Industrial Zones – Picking A Location For Your Business
  • Tax Audit Support
Advisory Services Home
  • Business Risk Services
  • Transaction Advisory Services
  • Valuation
  • Business consulting services
Business Process Solutions Home
  • Accounting services
  • Taxes compliance within outsourcing
  • Payroll, personal income tax and labor compliance
  • Secondments/Loan staff services
  • Compilation of the financial and non-financial information
  • ERP and accounting software advisory
  • Accounting systems review and improvement
  • Initial setting-up for accounting and taxes systems
  • Management accounting and analysis
Digital Advisory Home
  • Digital transformation
  • Digital marketing & sales
  • Digital HR
  • IT audit, digital governance and digital risk management
  • Technology design, selection & project quality assurance
  • Digital security
  • Technology architecture
  • Data analytics, business intelligence & dashboards
International Corporate Structuring Services Home
  • Offshore company establishment service
  • Private Trust Advisory
  • The Grant Thornton Difference
  • Experienced hires
  • Fresh graduates
The Grant Thornton Difference Home
  • Our values
  • Learning & development
  • Global talent mobility
  • Diversity
  • In the community
Experienced hires Home
  • Available positions
Fresh graduates Home
  • Available positions
  • Grant Thornton Vietnam | Audit | Tax | Advisory | Business Process Solutions
  • Press releases
  • 2014
  • Dynamic businesses explore new opportunities

Dynamic businesses explore new opportunities

26 Mar 2014
  • Dynamic businesses explore new opportunities

M&A prospects being driven by fastest-growing businesses

New research from the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) reveals that global M&A activity has risen from this time last year, with dynamic businesses – the fastest growing, most agile companies in the survey  – leading the way. The results confirm that leaders of the world's most progressive businesses view acquisitions as an important means to supplement and boost their existing operations.

The IBR data shows that 31% of businesses globally expect to grow through M&A over the next three years, up from 28% in 2012. However, this rises to 55% of dynamic businesses and is a pattern repeated across all regions. For example, 47% of all businesses in North America plan to grow through M&A, a ten percentage point rise from this time last year; but this rises to 71% for dynamic businesses. And across the G7, dynamic businesses (64%) are almost twice as likely to be looking at M&A as the all business average (36%).

In addition, the last year has shown businesses putting these plans into action with 39% confirming that they have seriously considered at least one acquisition over the past 12 months.

Mike Hughes, global leader for M&A at Grant Thornton, said: "The results are important on three levels. Firstly, the global increase in forecast M&A activity is another sign that the recovery is on a firmer footing and that the focus of businesses is moving away from simply staying afloat towards a growth agenda.

"The second is how important M&A is to the fastest growing businesses in the world as they seek   to access new markets and new pools of talent and technology to maintain their competitiveness.

"Finally, the evidence that these businesses are actually investing time and funding into investigating acquisitions now, rather than just stating an aspiration to acquire in the future, is a great indicator of a robust market."

In another sign of how the global economy is changing as the developed world slowly recovers from the financial crisis, forecast M&A activity in emerging economies has dipped according to the IBR. Just 19% of businesses in the BRIC economies expect to grow through M&A over the next three years, down from 27% this time last year. By contrast the G7 M&A prospects have risen from 29% to 36% over the same period.

Mike Hughes added: "Businesses in many developed economies have been operating in something of a holding pattern, waiting for signs that the recovery was sustainable and valuations realistic before making an acquisition. The upshot is that corporates are sitting on record high levels of cash which they need either to return to shareholders, invest in their existing operations or use to acquire new businesses.  More fluidity in the debt and equity markets is also helping to drive M&A activity in these markets.

"By contrast, emerging economies were barely affected by the financial crisis but more recently their growth, whilst still impressive, has slowed markedly. This, coupled with the prospect of certain political or structural changes, for example in SOE reform in China, suggests to us that many businesses in the emerging economies are taking a pause in prioritising M&A activity. We fully expect the interest in M&A to return strongly in these economies in the next few years."

Download 'Dynamic businesses at the forefront of M&A activity'.

– ends –

Notes to editors

The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) provides insight into the views and expectations of more than 12,500 businesses per year across 45 economies. This unique survey draws upon 22 years of trend data for most European participants and 11 years for many non-European economies.

Data collection is managed by Grant Thornton’s core research partner, Experian. Questionnaires are translated into local languages with each participating country having the option to ask a small number of country specific questions in addition to the core questionnaire. Fieldwork is undertaken on a quarterly basis. The research is carried out primarily by telephone.
 
IBR is a survey of both listed and privately held businesses. The data for this release are drawn from interviews with more than 12,500 chief executive officers, managing directors, chairmen or other senior executives from all industry sectors conducted between January and December 2013.

John Vita 

Director of Public Relations and External Affairs

T +1 312 602 8955

Dominic King, Global Research Manager, dominic.king@gti.gt.com, +44 (0)20 7391 9537

Share this page
  • Facebook LinkedIn
  • Twitter Twitter
  • LinkedIn LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp WhatsApp
  • Email Email
  • Grant Thornton on Youtube
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Facebook icon
CONNECTclose
  • Meet our people
  • Contact us
ABOUTclose
  • About us
  • Careers
  • Press
LEGALclose
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Site map

© 2021 Grant Thornton (Vietnam) Limited - All rights reserved. "Grant Thornton” refers to the brand under which the Grant Thornton member firms provide  assurance, tax and advisory services to their clients and/or refers to one or more member firms, as the context requires. GTIL and the member firms are not a worldwide partnership. GTIL and each member firm is a separate legal entity. Services are delivered by the member firms. GTIL does not provide services to clients. GTIL and its member firms are not agents of, and do not obligate, one another and are not liable for one another’s acts or omissions.

    • EN
    • JA
    • VI