Sullivan & Cromwell M&A Chief Charts Rise of Take-Private Deals

Companies having second thoughts about going public are fueling a surge in go-private deals, according to Melissa Sawyer, global head of Sullivan & Cromwell’s mergers and acquisitions group.

“Companies that are already public are feeling like living up to the requirements of being a public company—the costs associated with that, the quarterly reporting, the pressure from shareholder activists—is all becoming too much,” said Sawyer.

Global take-private deals reached $127 billion through July, according to Bloomberg data. That’s just shy of the total for all of last year.

Several large take-privates emerged in the deals market this year. In February, Novo ...