M&A activity sets record in 3rd quarter

Canadian mergers and acquisitions totalled $90.3-billion in the third quarter, beating a quarterly record hit at the peak of the technology boom, Crosbie & Co. Inc. says.

In its quarterly report on Canadian M&A activity, the Toronto-based investment bank said the third-quarter total eclipsed the previous record of $79.1-billion set in the second quarter of 2000. It surpassed the $68.9-billion of deals in this year's second quarter, and was almost double the $53.7-billion in third quarter of 2005. Read More.

Robust economic growth in 2007 to boost UK mergers and acquisitions

November 13 - FXStreet.com - Economic growth in the UK has been estimated at 2.8% in the 12 months to Q3 2006 - this compares with growth of just 1.9% during 2005 as a whole. A buoyant world economy, a stronger housing market, positive real earnings growth, rising employment and relatively low short and long term interest rates seem to be the main factors that account for the pick up in UK economic activity. Our 2007 UK outlook is for a continuation of this economic performance, with manufacturing output boosting growth and helping to rebalance the economy away from its reliance on consumer and government spending. Read More.

Merrill, Greenhill bankers see M&A boom

November 13 - Reuters - Top investment bankers at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and Greenhill & Co. Inc. said on Monday that they expect mergers and acquisitions to continue at their near-record pace. In fact, Merrill Lynch's head of investment banking said that activity may be on track to beat the volume of deals in 2000, which set a record. Read More.

Near 'perfect storm' drives Canada's M&A activity

Restructuring and consolidation are playing heavily on the Canadian business landscape, according to a report by RBC Economics.

Businesses are responding to global pressures and competition by merging and acquiring business lines to boost productivity and competitiveness. Read More.

The Dark Side of the M&A Boom

Earlier this year, buyout giants Kohlberg Kravis Roberts struck an agreement for a $33 billion leveraged buyout of hospital company HCA. The deal is the largest buyout ever, eclipsing KKR's record purchase of RJR Nabisco in 1988. That deal was worth $31.4 billion, including debt.

The HCA deal was hardly an anomaly. This year has broken 2000's record for private-equity fundraising, according to industry newsletter Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst and it isn't even over. U.S. private-equity funds have raised $177.89 billion in 2006 to date. Read More.

CEO Council session focuses on hot M&A market

For companies looking to jump into mergers and acquisitions, the time is right -- but they won't be alone. The best mergers and acquisitions market is the best in the United States and globally since 2000, said John H. Hill Jr., senior managing director with Hyde Park Capital Partners LLC in Tampa before an audience of 100 at the CEO Council of Tampa Bay's monthly breakfast series in Tampa. Read More.

CEOs more confident in Q4, see more M&A -survey

November 2 - Reuters - Company bosses are more confident about the global business outlook than they were in the gloomy third quarter, and a rising number see even more mergers and acquisitions ahead, a survey of chief executives showed on Thursday.

The latest quarterly poll of chief executives in the United States and Europe, conducted by investment firm Goldman Sachs, showed some of the biggest gains in optimism in the survey's four-year history. Read More.

Canada envisions more energy deals

November 2 - TheDeal.com - An about-face by the Canadian government could boost M&A activity in Canada's already deal-frenzied energy sector.

That was the prediction Wednesday, Nov. 1, after Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced late the day before that the federal government will begin applying corporate taxes to income trusts by 2011.

The trusts have been exempt from most corporate taxes provided they pay out most of their income. The tax advantages had prompted many Canadian companies to convert into trust, and Canadian banks and law firms had marketed the structure heavily to U.S. companies. Read More (subscription required).