Acquisitions worth more than $540bn have been scuppered so far this year as blockbuster takeovers have come under renewed threat from government scrutiny.
Countries are increasingly turning to foreign investment laws to block deals in sensitive industries, including the technology and utility sectors, while antitrust regulators have put up barriers to several multibillion-dollar transactions this year.
Among the casualties was chipmaker Broadcom’s $142bn hostile bid for rival Qualcomm, which was blocked by US president Donald Trump on national security grounds, and the latter’s $44bn pursuit of Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors, which China refused to approve amid an escalating trade dispute with Mr Trump.
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