Mergers and acquisitions among consumer goods companies hit a 15-year high in 2017, according to CNBC.
The number of deals rose by 45 percent in 2017 and the value of these deals grew by 190 percent. OC&C Strategy Consultants analyzed the top 50 international consumer goods companies based on 2017 sales in order to gather data on the M&A activity.
"The balance of power has shifted as some of the traditional scale advantages that the major brand owners enjoyed [like having scale manufacturing, big salesforces, ability to advertise on TV, attract good people to work for them] have been eroded by digital technologies, which have enabled smaller businesses to grow more successfully than in the past," said Will Hayllar, co-leader of the global consumer goods team at OC&C, according to CNBC.
Consumer companies reported sales growth of 2.6 percent in 2017, while multiple acquisitions among alcohol and tobacco companies helped drive sales up 21.8 percent.