This Merger Monday Is Nothing to Cheer About
None of the $60-plus billion in announced deals necessarily signals renewed bullishness toward the economy, and in fact, one is flashing just the opposite.
There were lots of deal handshakes during a whirlwind few days of M&A, but hold the applause.
Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
A flurry of corporate dealmaking in recent days is creating the illusion of an almost-return to normalcy — that is, buyers are confident enough to be buying again even as Covid-19 continues to burden the U.S. economy. But don’t let the billions of dollars suddenly swishing around the M&A market fool you: This isn’t a Merger Monday to celebrate. None of the announced deals necessarily signals renewed bullishness toward the economy, and in fact, one is flashing just the opposite.
For starters, there’s the TikTok takeover saga, which looks like it will end without an outright takeover and rather a partnership with Oracle Corp. Remember, these negotiations were brought about not by natural market forces, but by geopolitical tensions with China and somewhat squishy national-security logic employed by the White House.