消费者需求推动跨行业并购交易的增长

© Oliver WymanCorporations have long scoured the familiar terrain of their own industrieswhen looking to expand through mergers and acquisitions (M&As), but thepast decade has seen a shift. The contemporary economic landscape of lowinterest rates, digital transformation, and the disintermediation of some valuechains has emboldened a move toward cross-industry exploration.Of the more than 100,000 global M&As between 2013 and 2023, 20% to 30% transgressedindustries, indicating an evolving paradigm where traditional lines are blurring to forgevalue and operational efficiencies through strategic mergers. These deals are redrawingindustry boundaries, strengthening cross-industry hubs that include related sectors, andcreating new pathways linking sectors.Cross-industry M&As are not new, although their share of transaction volume has variedover time depending on interest rates, technology shifts, and industry dynamics. Whathas changed is the prominence of customer needs in driving these deals. Oliver Wyman’sHoneycomb analysis, a proprietary approach to evaluating industries based on consumerneeds, reveals that a deep alignment of business strategies with consumer preferences is asignificant motivating force behind cross-industryM&As.While this shift is notable, whether this force represents a lasting evolution in the marketremains to be seen. A prolonged return to higher interest rates might lessen companies’ riskappetite, with management again seeking opportunities in the industries they know best.But as cross-industry mergers reshape the competition and the marketplace, companiesmust judiciously select when and where to breach traditional boundaries to ensure thesuccess of these ventures. Taking a nuanced approach that is grounded in the synergy ofdiverse industries and the dynamism of consumer preferences will set the stage for cross-industry M&As that lead to sustainable growth.CROSS-INDUSTRY M&AS ARE DRIVING INNOVATIONM&As serve as a pivotal catalyst for innovation and industry convergence in this rapidlychanging corporate landscape. The more than $3 trillion in acquisitions in 2023 underscoresthe critical need to dissect the motivations driving these investments. These include thedesire to consolidate market position or to optimize costs for enhanced performance, and,more transformative, to overhaul their business models and set a new strategic coursetoward growth and innovation. © Oliver WymanTo deepen our understanding of this shift, Oliver Wyman analyzed over 100,000 M&A dealsfrom the last decade across industries — excluding transactions sponsored by privateequity — including 194 subsectors for bidder and target companies. The purpose was toidentify instances where businesses expanded beyond their specific industry and venturedinto new markets.Remarkably, 20% to 30% of these transactions were inter-industry, illustrating the fading oftraditional demarcations and the confluence of distinct sectors. Mapping transactions ontoa graph network, with nodes representing industries and edges denoting M&As, elucidatedthis connectivity. This network analysis unveiled key influences in the business landscape,highlighted M&A-active industries, identified clusters of interrelated sectors, and providedinsights into sector-specific and inter-industrydynamics.Exhibit 1: Connections among deals from 2013 to 2023However, not allpairs of industriesare interconnectedThe M&A data containsa wide range of connectionsbetween industries14Average connectionsper industry39Max connectionsper industry52Total industries361Industry pairsSource: MergerMarket dataset of M&A deals © Oliver WymanNext, hubs of activity were identified within the overall network creating groups ofindustries that exhibited high levels of M&A interactions among them. This analysisidentified five primary hubs: Communication, Media, and Tech; Industrial Products andServices; Consumer Activities; Healthcare; and Energy andUtilities.While these hubs conformed to traditional high-level industry classifications, they alsoreflected the grouping of industries based on actual M&A transaction volume over the past10 years. For instance, companies in industries in the Communications, Media, and Tech hub,including everything from software companies to entertainment producers to telecoms,had high M&A transaction volume among them, which was expected given their apparentadjacencies. The same concept held true for industries within each hub.It was unsurprising that companies in adjacent industries displayed high levels of M&Aactivity but viewing deals through the lens of five hubs made it possible to identify changesin their composition over time. As deals between different industry pairs changed, newpatterns emerged. Those shifts in transactions between hubs created new activity centers,revealing how M&A activity has been reshaping industry classifications andrelationships.Looking at deals between companies in different hubs also exposed where businessesentered new markets