Rank | Year | Purchaser | Purchased | Transaction value
| Inflation adjusted value | Note |
1 | 2019 | Altria | Philip Morris International | 200.0 | | The merger was called off after a chilly reaction from investors, vaping related illnesses, and Altria's increasingly scrutinized $12.8 billion investment in vaping leader JUUL. |
2 | 2015 | Pfizer |  Allergan, plc | 160.0 | | The deal fell through over changes made to tax inversion legislation by the US Government. |
3 | 2008 | BHP Billiton | Rio Tinto | 148.0 | | As commodity prices fell in value, the deal became too risky for BHP Billiton to complete. |
4 | 2017 | Kraft Heinz | Unilever plc | 143.0 | | Kraft's offer was an 18% premium to Unilever's closing share price the day before the announcement, however Unilever Executives claimed the deal undervalued the company, as well as job-cut implications and regulator approval issues. The bid was formally dropped on February 19, citing the complexities of acquiring control in a Dutch entity without the support of shareholders. |
5 | 1999 | MCI WorldCom | Sprint | 129.0 | | The US Department of Justice and European Commission prohibited the merger on competition grounds, with the DoJ filing a lawsuit against the transaction. |
6 | 2014 | Pfizer | Astra Zeneca | 123.0 | | Significant concerns were raised by the UK Government over job security, in the end leading to a deal being abandoned due to resistance from the AstraZeneca Board. |
7 | 2018 | Broadcom Ltd | Qualcomm Inc | 121.0 | | Qualcomm claimed that Broadcom had undervalued the business but did propose to meet Broadcom officials, with the initial offer of $121 billion. On February 21, Broadcom reduced their offer to $117 billion in light of Qualcomms increased bid for NXP Semconductors. |
8 | 2018 | Broadcom Ltd | Qualcomm Inc | 117.0 | | On February 21, Broadcom reduced their offer to $117 billion in light of Qualcomms increased bid for NXP Semconductors. The deal was effectively blocked after US President Donald Trump blocked any deal based upon national security grounds. |
9 | 1999 | MCI WorldCom | Sprint | 111.0 | | The Board of Sprint claimed that the first deal undervalued the company and thus rejected the proposal. |
10 | 2014 | Pfizer | Astra Zeneca | 106.0 | | AstraZeneca claimed the deal undervalued the company. |
11 | 2018 | Broadcom Ltd | Qualcomm Inc | 103.0 | | $130 billion with assumed debt, Qualcomm shareholders would get $60 in cash and $10 per share in Broadcom shares. Qualcomm rejected Broadcom's $103 billion takeover bid, saying the offer “dramatically” undervalued the U.S. company. |
12 | 2006 | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Texas Pacific Group | The Home Depot | 100.0 | | In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Home Depot said that its board "unanimously" supports the management team and its current strategy. The potential world record LBO bid never came to fruition after that. |
13 | 2014 | Pfizer |  Astra Zeneca | 98.9 | | AstraZeneca claimed the deal undervalued the company. |
14 | 2016 | Honeywell | United Technologies | 90.0 | | Honeywell dropped a bid to acquire United Technologies, citing potential regulatory hurdles. |
15 | 2007 | Barclays | ABN AMRO | 89.6 | | Barclays lost out after RBS Group, Fortis, and Banco Santander, S.A. bid $98 billion with the plan to break ABN AMRO between the three banks. |
16 | 1999 | Pfizer | Warner–Lambert | 82.4 | | Pfizer made a hostile bid, just after the announcement of a $65 billion deal with American Home Products, the eventual purchase price would be in excess of $90 billion. |
17 | 1999 | Deutsche Telekom | Telecom Italia | 81.0 | | Olivetti was able to sway key Telecom Italia shareholders and win control of 51% of shares, killing the proposed merger of the telecommunication giants. |
18 | 2014 | 21st Century Fox | Time Warner | 80.0 | | 21st Century Fox abandoned its takeover of Time Warner Inc., due to the unwillingness of the Time Warner Board to engage with the Fox executives. This also caused a sharp dip in Fox's stock price which made a deal unattractive to Fox shareholders. |
19 | 1998 | American Home Products | SmithKline Beecham | 77.0 | | The deal was reportedly killed in response to British regulators who feared losing jobs to a proposed U.S. headquarters location. |
20 | 2019 | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts | Walgreens Boots Alliance | 70.0 | | KKR did not follow through with a formal bid as the potential world record LBO was simply deemed too large. |
21 | 2009 |  Xstrata |  Anglo American plc | 68.0 | | Anglo American rejected rival mining group Xstrata’s “merger of equals” proposal, knocking a no-premium marriage and a combination with what it regarded as Xstrata’s inferior mines. |
22 | 2004 | Comcast | Disney | 66.0 | | Comcast executives abandoned the deal to buy Walt Disney after both investors and Disney executives failed to agree on the acquisition. |
23 | 1999 | Warner–Lambert | American Home Products | 65.0 | | Following the merger announcement, Pfizer filed a complaint against Warner-Lambert and initiated an ultimately successful hostile takeover. Pfizer was looking to secure the full rights to Lipitor which was co-marketed with Warner-Lambert. |
24 | 2018 | Comcast | 21st Century Fox | 65.0 | | Main Article: Proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox |
25 | 2018 | Takeda Pharmaceutical |  Shire | 62.5 | | Third bid, unanimously rejected by the Shire Board, who concluded that it significantly undervalued the Company, its growth prospects as well as pipeline. |
26 | 2018 | Takeda Pharmaceutical |  Shire | 62.1 | | Fourth bid with enhanced cash component, super-ceded by a fifth bid on April 24. |
27 | 2018 | Takeda Pharmaceutical |  Shire | 61.0 | | Second bid, unanimously rejected by the Shire Board, who concluded that it significantly undervalued the Company, its growth prospects as well as pipeline. |
28 | 2002 | Comcast | MediaOne | 60.0 | | Comcast initially bid $60 billion in stock for MediaOne but AT&T trumped them with a better offer of $62 billion in cash and stock. |
29 | 2018 | Takeda Pharmaceutical |  Shire | 58.2 | | First bid, unanimously rejected by the Shire Board, who concluded that it significantly undervalued the Company, its growth prospects as well as pipeline. |
30 | 2007 | E.ON | Endesa | 54.0 | | Intervention from the Spanish Government delayed the planned takeover and E.ON's offer was eventually trumped by a $65.3 billion deal with Enel and Acciona. The two divested several Spanish assets to E.ON upon completion. |
31 | 2014 | AbbVie |  Shire | 54.0 | | The deal fell through over changes made to tax inversion legislation by the US Government. |
32 | 2014 | Valeant Pharmaceuticals | Allergan, Inc. | 54.0 | | Allergan argued that the Valeant cash-and-stock offer, would hurt its shareholders, given the Canadian drug-maker's history of cutting research and development spending at companies it acquires. Allergan would be acquired by Actavis Plc and form Allergan plc. |
33 | 2017 | Disney | 21st Century Fox | 52.4 | | Main Article: Proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox |
34 | 2008 | Bharti Airtel | MTN Group | 50.0 | | Bharti called off negotiations after MTN turned Bharti's takeover plan upside down, proposing to take over Bharti instead. |
35 | 2015 | Anthem | Cigna | 48.0 | | The transaction was blocked by US Federal Judges on grounds of diminished competition and the 'irreparable harm' that would be done to the US health insurance market. |
36 | 2008 | Microsoft | Yahoo! Inc | 47.5 | | Yahoo pulled out of talks with Microsoft after they agreed to let Google sell search ads on its site. |
37 | 2015 | Monsanto | Syngenta | 46.5 | | Monsanto dropped its hostile bid for Syngenta, refocusing on its five-year plan to double earnings and avoid a backlash from large shareholders. Subsequently, Bayer purchased Monsanto, with ChemChina acquiring Syngenta. |
38 | 2014 | Comcast | Time Warner Cable | 45.2 | | Main Article: Attempted purchase of Time Warner Cable by Comcast |
39 | 1996 | Credit Suisse | Union Bank of Switzerland | 45.0 | | UBS not only spurned the offer from CS Holding but insisted that it had been "taken aback" by its rival's offer. |
40 | 2000 | General Electric | Honeywell | 45.0 | | The EU Competition commission recommended blocking the deal, arguing that the merger would reduce competition - specifically within the aerospace industry - which could end up generating higher prices for consumers. |
41 | 2012 | EADS | BAE Systems | 45.0 | | Lack of investor support, coupled with opposition from the UK Government, German Government and the French Government. |
42 | 2018 | Qualcomm | NXP Semiconductors | 44.0 | | Qualcomm raised their offer from $110 per share to $127.50 per share after pressure from activist investors. In 2018, China failed to approve the merger, leading to its cancellation by Qualcomm on July 26, 2018. |
43 | 2000 | United Technologies | Honeywell | 40.0 | | United Technologies ended merger talks with Honeywell after it had emerged that General Electric had dealt a counter-offer. |
44 | 2008 | France Télécom S.A. | TeliaSonera | 40.0 | | France Telecom withdrew its bid after the two parties could not reach an agreement on the terms of the deal. |
45 | 2010 |  BHP Billiton | Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc | 40.0 | | Potash Corp rejected the offer claiming it undervalued the company. |
46 | 2015 |  Teva Pharmaceutical Industries |  Mylan | 40.0 | | In April, Teva offered to acquire Mylan for $40 billion, only a fortnight after Mylan offered to acquire Perrigo for $29 billion. Teva's offer for Mylan was contingent on Mylan abandoning its acquisition of Perrigo. Mylan stated in June 2015 that Teva’s disclosure that it had a 1.35 percent stake in Mylan violated US anti-trust rules. |
47 | 2011 | AT&T | T-Mobile US | 39.0 | | On August 31, 2011, the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice formally announced that it would seek to block the takeover, and filed a lawsuit to such effect in federal court. |
48 | 2019 | Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing | London Stock Exchange | 39.0 | | $39 billion takeover proposal was rejected by the Board of the London Stock Exchange. |
49 | 1999 |  Global Crossing | US West | 37.0 | | Global Crossing lost out on acquiring US West after Qwest outbid them. |
50 | 2015 | Aetna | Humana | 37.0 | | The transaction was blocked by US Federal Judges on grounds of diminished competition and the 'irreparable harm' that would be done to the US health insurance market. |
51 | 2010 | Prudential plc | AIA Group | 35.5 | | Prudential tried to lower their bid to $30 billion following shareholder opposition but AIG said they would “not consider” any alterations to the deal. Prudential subsequently withdrew the deal. |
52 | 2014 | Omnicom | Publicis | 35.0 | | Proposed merger as Publicis Omnicom Group. Omnicom wanted their people to occupy the CEO, CFO and general counsel jobs. Uncertainty over the deal lead to a drop in revenue of $1.5 billion in the period. |
53 | 2019 |  Fiat Chrysler | Renault | 35.0 | | At the end of May 2019, news broke of a potential $35 billion merger-of-equals between Renault and Fiat Chrysler, aiming to create the third largest car manufacturer. The deal allegedly failed due to Nissan's abstaining from voting on the merger proposal and the French Government's stake in Renault. |
54 | 2020 | Xerox | HP Inc | 35.0 | | Xerox’s second bid of $35 billion consisting of cash-and-stock saw an increase of $2 per share to buy HP. HP declined and told shareholders it would return $16 billion to shareholders in the next three years to ward off a hostile takeover attempt. |
55 | 1998 | American Home Products | Monsanto | 34.4 | | The companies said that the deal was abandoned because it was not in the best interest of the shareholders. Yet, people close to the deal said the merger was terminated because of the power struggle between the two companies’ chairmen. |
56 | 1999 | Bank of Scotland | National Westminster Bank | 34.3 | | Natwest rejected the deal saying that it undervalued the company. They would end up being acquired by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group for $42.5 billion. |
57 | 2018 | Comcast | Sky plc | 34.0 | | Comcast offered £17.28 per share, exceeding Fox's offer of £15.67 per share, in a blind auction set up by the UK's Takeover Panel. |
58 | 2019 | Xerox | HP Inc | 33.5 | | Xerox’s $33.5 billion cash-and-stock offer to buy bigger rival HP was declined, with HP indicating it might make its own counter-offer for Xerox. |
59 | 1994 | Bell Atlantic | Tele-Communications Inc. | 33.0 | | The companies blamed the deal’s collapse on the FCC which voted to reduce cable television rates against the protests of the cable TV industry. The FCC denied this vehemently with an FCC commissioner James Quello saying “They may be paying too much for it .” |
60 | 2016 | Energy Transfer Equity | Williams Companies | 33.0 | | Energy Transfer Equity terminated the merger agreement with Williams after ETE’s counsel were unable to declare the deal as tax-free. |
61 | 2019 | Chevron Corporation | Anadarko Petroleum | 33.0 | | On April 12, Chevron Corporation announced it would acquire Anadarko for $33 billion. However, on April 24, Occidental Petroleum Corp announced a counter-offer to Chevron's previous announcement, offering $38 billion - Occidental's offer would ultimately prove successful. |
62 | 2018 | 21st Century Fox | Sky plc | 32.5 | | Fox raised their offer to $32.5 billion for Sky. |
63 | 2016 | Deutsche Börse AG | London Stock Exchange Group | 31.0 | | The merger was prohibited on competition grounds by the EU Commission. |
64 | 2018 | Comcast | Sky plc | 31.0 | | Comcast offered $31 billion for Sky plc which Fox trumped. |
65 | 2000 | Deutsche Bank | Dresdner Bank | 30.0 | | Dresdner Bank abandoned the deal when the two couldn’t agree on what to do with Dresdner’s investment bank. Deutsche Bank wanted to sell most of it, but Dresdner did not want that to happen. |
66 | 2006 | Aviva plc | Prudential plc | 29.6 | | Aviva’s all-stock proposal was rejected by the Prudential Board, despite Aviva offering a premium to the current share price. |
67 | 2017 | PPG Industries | Akzo Nobel | 29.5 | | Akzo again rejected PPG's bid, citing the deal still undervalued the company, as well as potentially facing antitrust risks, and not addressing other concerns such as "cultural differences" |
68 | 2004 | Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group | UFJ Bank | 29.2 | | UFJ Bank rejected the proposal as it had already committed to a merger with Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group. |
69 | 2017 | Emerson Electric | Rockwell Automation | 29.0 | | Rejected as Rockwell believed the offer still undervalued the company. |
70 | 1997 | GTE | MCI Inc. | 28.0 | | GTE made an unsolicited offer of $28 billion all-cash to MCI two weeks after Worldcom bid $30 billion in stock. Worldcom would end up winning with a $37 billion bid. |
71 | 2001 | Lloyds TSB Group | Abbey National | 28.0 | | The British Government blocked the proposed merger as they believed it would be against the public interest. |
72 | 2005 | Gas Natural | Endesa | 28.0 | | Endesa rejected the bid saying it was "manifestly insufficient". Endesa would be acquired for $65.3 billion by Enel and Acciona. |
73 | 2016 | Canadian Pacific Railway Limited | Norfolk Southern Corporation | 28.0 | | Canadian Pacific Railway scrapped the deal after the U.S. Justice Department urged the Surface Transportation Board to reject a voting trust arrangement that was part of the bid. U.S. lawmakers, the U.S. military, and UPS and FedEx all opposed the merger as well. |
74 | 2016 | Halliburton | Baker Hughes | 28.0 | | Oilfield services provider Halliburton and smaller rival Baker Hughes terminated their $28 billion merger deal after opposition from U.S. and European antitrust regulators. |
75 | 2007 | Alcoa | Alcan | 27.6 | | Alcan rejected the offer as they believed it did not reflect the full value of the company and advised shareholders not to tender any of their shares to the bid. |
76 | 2017 | Emerson Electric | Rockwell Automation | 27.6 | | Rejected as Rockwell believed the offer undervalued the company. The $27.6 billion was made up of $107.50 per share in cash with the rest of the balance being paid in 225 million shares of Emerson stock. |
77 | 2001 | Prudential plc | American General | 26.5 | | Prudential’s bid of $26.5 billion in stock was reduced to just over $20 billion when Prudential’s shares plummeted after the announcement. AIG then stepped in and offered $23 billion which was accepted by American General. |
78 | 2017 | PPG Industries | Akzo Nobel | 26.1 | | Akzo rejected the unsolicited offer, claiming the revised offer was still too low. Akzo claimed that key stakeholder issues as well as uncertainties and risks that had already been raised in response to earlier offers had not been answered. |
79 | 2007 | Express Scripts | Caremark Rx | 26.0 | | Express Scripts bid $26 billion for Caremark Rx but refused to pay a $675 million breakup fee to void Caremark's pending merger with CVS. Even though Express Scripts offered $4 billion more than CVS, CVS and Caremark Rx completed their merger. |
80 | 2015 |  Mylan |  Perrigo | 26.0 | | In order for the hostile takeover to go through successfully, Mylan needed 50% of Perrigos shares to be tendered under the deal. However, only 40% or 58 million shares were tendered and the hostile takeover fell through. |
81 | 2002 | Hughes Electronics Corp. | EchoStar | 25.6 | | US and state anti-trust enforcers filed a lawsuit to halt the deal, claiming that the deal would eliminate competition and adversely effect consumers. |
82 | 2013 | Dish Network | Sprint Corporation | 25.5 | | Sprint requested a revised offer but Dish stated that it was not practical to do so. |
83 | 2004 | Johnson & Johnson | Guidant | 25.4 | | Johnson & Johnson announced that it was acquiring Guidant on December 15, 2004, for $76 a share, with the deal being approved on April 27, 2005 by Guidant shareholders. However on May 25 of the same year, Guidant reported 26 cases of implantable defibrillator failure, including a death. Johnson & Johnson announced the possibility of them pulling out from the deal, Guidant then sued Johnson & Johnson in an attempt to enforce the acquisition. However, they later re-negotiated a lower price of $21.5 billion. |
84 | 2006 | Boston Scientific | Guidant | 25.0 | | A day after Johnson & Johnson raised their price for Guidant to $23.2 billion, Boston Scientific announced a further increased offer. |
85 | 2013 | The Blackstone Group | Dell | 25.0 | | Blackstone noted in a letter to Dell's special committee that a "unprecedented 14 percent market decline in PC volume in the first quarter of 2013" worried the firm and didn't line up with Dell's projections for modest industry growth. In addition, Blackstone's evaluation of Dell showed a "rapidly eroding financial profile." Blackstone subsequently withdrew their bid. |
86 | 2005 | Boston Scientific | Guidant | 24.6 | | With the re-negotiated lower price of $21.5 billion between Johnson & Johnson and Guidant, Boston Scientific announced an unsolicited offer of $24.6 billion for Guidant. |
87 | 2006 | Johnson & Johnson | Guidant | 24.2 | | After Boston Scientific increased their offer to $25 billion, Johnson & Johnson further increased their offer to $24.2 billion. |
88 | 2017 | PPG Industries | Akzo Nobel | 24.1 | | Akzo rejected the unsolicited offer, claiming the revised offer was still too low. |
89 | 1998 | Bank of New York | Mellon Bank Corporation | 24.0 | | Bank of New York called off its takeover proposal after Mellon’s Board declined to meet with Bank of New York officials to discuss the merger. The two would later merge in 2007. |
90 | 2018 | Albertsons | Rite Aid | 24.0 | | Albertsons and Rite Aid called off the planned merger after several advisory firms recommended voting against the proposal. |
91 | 2006 | Johnson & Johnson | Guidant | 23.2 | | After the re-negotiated lower price of $21.5 billion was trumped by Boston Scientific's offer of $24.6 billion, Johnson & Johnson raised their offer to $23.2 billion. |
92 | 2016 | Mondelez International | The Hershey Company | 23.0 | | Mondelez ceased its pursuit of the Hershey Co acquisition after the chocolate company turned down its $23 billion cash-and-stock offer. |
93 | 1995 | Tracinda | Chrysler | 22.8 | | Tracinda, led by Kirk Kerkorian, was unable to come up with the financing in order to complete the deal. Chrysler was able to leverage its relationships with investment banks to block Kerkorian from being able to get the money necessary for the takeover. |
94 | 1996 | British Telecom | MCI Inc. | 22.0 | | British Telecom held a partial stake in MCI since 1994 and was looking to acquire the entirety of it. Worldcom ended up winning the takeover fight with a $37 billion bid. |
95 | 2020 | Seven & i Holdings | Marathon Petroleum | 22.0 | | Seven & i walked away from the potential deal, citing concerns over the price. |
96 | 1989 |  Sir James Goldsmith Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild Kerry Packer | British American Tobacco | 21.0 | | British American Tobacco rejected the deal as it planned to break up the conglomerate which the company’s chairman Patrick Sheehy described as “most disadvantageous to the company, its shareholders, customers, policyholders and employees.” |
97 | 2014 | Bouygues | SFR | 20.6 | | Bouygues offer was soon trumped by Numericable's, who purchased SFR for $23 billion. |
98 | 2017 | Clariant | Huntsman | 20.0 | | After months of pressure from activist investors, the companies announced they would abandon their merger plans, with investors citing a reduction in shareholder value as the cause. |