Mergers and acquisitions ever increasing
It's mid-year, and a number of articles are coming out about how 2007 is looking to be a record year for acquisitions, even after a record set in 2006.
The Financial Times ("UK M&A gets off to a sprint start", 6/29/07) reports "During the first six months of the year, there were 1,405 deals worth a total $216bn (£107bn) - a 72 per cent increase on the same period last year."
The New York Times Dealbook article ("U.S. Deal-Making Topped $1 Trillion in First Half>' 6/29/07) notes a similar increase. "The volume of mergers and acquisitions in the United States topped $1 trillion in the first half of 2007, a record for the first six months of any year, according to Dealogic. Deal activity was even stronger in Europe, where the combined value of mergers so far this year surpassed U.S totals for the first time in four years."
At the same time, as we have seen, the private equity market has been busier than ever As the Financial Times website notes ("Dealogic's first-half M&A-related figures: the party roars on", 6/29/07) "private equity groups reached new highs of $568.7bn, a rise of 23 per cent on the previous high of $459.2bn in the second half of 2006," Plus "The amount of cash raised through the debt capital markets as a whole reached $1,450bn, the highest volume on record, and up 32 per cent over the same period last year, says Dealogic."
The list of major deals still in the works seems endless; from the attempt to buy Dutch bank ABN Amro, the offers for a number of major financial exchanges, Alitalia, The Wall Street Journal buyout, the sell-off of Schweppes from Cadbury, and efforts by Ford and GM to keep spinning off - just to mention the ones coming to the top of my head. Sectors like mining, metals, infrastructure, and banking are still just starting to get consolidated. And the influx of Chinese, Indian, and Saudi money and the growing self-confidence from those sectors is just starting to play out.
But all booms turn into bubbles. The question is when. We've seen rumblings in US hedge fund market and the dollar and oil supply look especially vulnerable. Bu for the rest of this year, at least, this site will have no lack of deals to speculate about.
11:26:03 PM 
|
|
