M&A Deals Surge Through May in 2007

June 27 - Associated Press - Easy access to debt capital and rising corporate profits led to a surge in merger and acquisition volumes in the first five months of 2007, according to a study by consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers released Wednesday.

Deals involving U.S. firms had total value of $845 billion through May, 10 percent more than in the first six months of 2006, and equal to 53 percent of total volume last year.

"Aggressive lending by banks and institutional investors coupled with rising corporate profits and reasonably low default rates are key factors driving this increase," said Bob Filek of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Read More.