Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Hilary Clinton have both regularly decried the ills of big corporations and downsides of mega-deals while marching the campaign trail.
The two have criticized corporate inversion, a popular motive for companies to merge with those abroad for the sake of lower taxes. Clinton has also attacked the proposed mega-merger between giant health insurance providers Anthem and Cigna, Aetna and Humana, saying that it allotted too much power to the companies, CBS News reported.
Which is why it’s surprising to hear that dealmaking experts say Clinton and Trump are the unlikely best choices for corporations and mergers and acquisitions.
That’s according to mergers and acquisitions experts polled by Brunswick Group.
When asked “which major party U.S. Presidential candidate would be the best outcome for dealmaking/corporate interests if elected,” 22% of North Americans polled by Brunswick pointed to Trump.
He was followed closely by Clinton with 21% of votes, and fellow Republican presidential candidate John Kasich with 19% of votes. Just 3% of dealmaking experts pointed to Ted Cruz.
Dealmaking experts abroad however were less divided about who would best serve corporate and dealmaking interests, with nearly a third of those surveyed saying they believed Clinton.
That’s coming off a year that was historic for M&A volume by a wide margin, with a record breaking $2.46 trillion worth in deals made in 2015. The volume was egged on by several mega-mergers, according to financial firm Dealogic.
70% of leading U.S. dealmakers say they expect a decrease in North American deal activity in 2016, despite an increase in Chinese companies seeking to buy companies in the states. They also expect to see more small deals, worth less than $5 billion.
“After two consecutive years of high-volume global merger and acquisition activity, 70% of leading U.S. dealmakers surveyed expect a decrease in North American activity this year due to economic conditions and wobbly stock markets,” the Brunswick Group wrote in a statement.
Mergers and acquisitions volume has already waned. In January, M&A spendings fell 40.2% from a month prior, according to FactSet.
Brunswick polled 140 M&A experts in North America, Asia, and Europe.