North American companies unleashed a dealmaking spree totalling more than $50bn on Monday, as executives ignored a pending trade war and uncertainty around US midterm elections to swallow European rivals in a series of industry-changing mergers.

Boardroom confidence, cheap debt and record stock prices have spurred a wave of activity that left global dealmaking at a record high of $3.2tn in 2018. Companies are racing to remake themselves by snatching trophy assets or consolidating with rivals before the business cycle turns.

Deals lined up on Monday ranged from the glitz of the catwalks in Milan — as Michael Kors readied a multibillion dollar takeover offer for storied Milanese fashion house Versace — down to the grit of the mining world, with Canada’s Barrick Gold agreeing a $6bn all-stock purchase of Randgold Resources.

But the biggest prize was in media, as Comcast trounced 21st Century Fox and Walt Disney in a weekend auction for Sky with a ?30.6bn bid, while in the radio sector SiriusXM secured a $3.5bn deal for digital music provider Pandora Media.

Global mergers and acquisitions have totalled $3.24tn so far this year, 40 per cent higher than the same time a year ago and ahead of the record pace set in 2007, according to data from Thomson Reuters. Megadeals of more than $5bn in value accounted for 44 per cent of transactions this year.

A rally in global stock indices has assuaged concerns that the intensifying trade dispute between the US and China would dent economic activity, and in turn dealmaking. The S&P 500 has climbed 16.5 per cent over the past 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Index rose by 19 per cent, and both sat near record territory on Monday.