India, China top M&A target: PwC

May 24 - Times of India - China and India are Asia's top two targets for merger and acquisitions in the financial services space, due to underlying economic growth conditions and interest in the two fastest growing economies of the world, a survey says.

"China and India still remain the top two targets for M&A in the region... and interest in India has increased to 39% from 36%," financial advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said in an annual survey conducted with the Economist Intelligence Unit. The survey of 230 executives in Asia revealed that the financial services sector is expected to continue witnessing M&A deals in the next five years which are now expanding into other related sectors. Read More.

Technology mergers more than double

May 23 - IT Week - The value of European technology mergers and acquisitions has more than doubled in the last year, according to figures from market analyst Thomson Financial.

Mergers and acquisitions in 2007 have reached a total value of $36.4bn (£18.37bn) compared with $14.4bn (£7.27bn) at the same time last year.

The findings reflect an overall increase in worldwide mergers and acquisitions, running 77 per cent ahead of last year across sectors including financial, industrial, property and technology.

The value of European bids across industry sectors in 2007 has already matched the full year for 2005 and exceeded the 2004 total. View article.

M&A in utilities sector seen powering on - KPMG survey

May 21 - Forbes.com - Mergers and acquisitions in the power and utilities sector is set for a period of brisk activity, according to a poll by accounting firm, KPMG.

'Some of the mid to large utility players look set to pursue mega-deals to shore up their position in the highly competitive market over the coming year,' it said after surveying 40 senior executives from the largest global power and utilities companies. Read More.

Pvt equity funds get active in clean energy sector

May 22 - Business Standard - The clean energy business is turning out to be the next big thing for private equity and venture capital investors in India.

Investors all over the world are ready to cash in on the clean technology business, thanks to tough postures adopted by the UN and global environment bodies in pushing companies to go environment-friendly. Following the trend, private equity and venture capital funds see big potential for investments in the clean energy sector in India, say industry experts. Read More.

Canadian M&A activity nearly double that of last year: report

May 17 - Ottawa Business Journal - Canadian merger and acquisition activity has nearly doubled from the same time last year, with the dollar value of M&A deals topping $175 billion to date, according to a new report by CIBC World Markets.

In the month of May alone, there have been $82 billion in announced transactions in Canada, the report said. The jump in activity follows an 80-per-cent spike in the value of M&A transactions in 2006. Read More.

India Is a Small M&A Market For Its Size

May 15 - MoneyControl.com - India is witnessing a surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and private equity activity. In 2006, there were 782 deals worth $28.2 billion (Rs 1,24,080 crore). But in the first two months of 2007, over 100 deals worth $37 billion (Rs 1,62,800 crore) have already been signed. And Richard Murley, the London-based managing director of NM Rothschild & Sons (one of the oldest investment banks with an intriguing history), believes that there is a lot more action left in this M&A season. He was in Mumbai recently to help the Tatas wrap up their $12.1-billion acquisition of Corus. Read More.

Canada firms enjoy their own foreign buying spree

May 9 - Reuters - As protestsmount in Canada over a spate of foreign takeovers of some ofthe country's biggest companies, data showed on Wednesday that Canadian firms have been on a buying spree of their own overseas.

An analysis by KPMG's corporate finance practice in Canada shows that there were 790 foreign acquisitions by Canadian firms through 2005 and 2006. That compares with 660 foreign acquisitions of Canadian companies in the same period. Read More.

Weak dollar, excess cash help fuel M&A boom

May 11 - Reuters - Global financial markets awash in liquidity, due partly to a weak dollar, have spawned a flurry of mergers and acquisitions this year, and as long as the greenback remains soft the boom has further to run.

The weak dollar, which has been pressured by gloomy U.S. growth expectations and diminishing yield advantage over other major currencies, has triggered huge increases in foreign exchange reserves for countries such as China and Japan that don't want a soft dollar because it erodes their export competitiveness. Read More.

Google prefers small technology companies in its M&A strategy

May 12 - EarthTimes.org - Google Inc. is now ready for large acquisitions and it sees this as a strategy for growth. However, the search company would prefer small technology deals to mega buyouts. Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt said at a press briefing at the company's Mountain View, California headquarters the company is prepared to acquire large organizations, like DoubleClick, which it has agreed to buy for $3.1 billion, but it would rather do so to cover major gaps in its businesses. Read More.

Google Sees Mergers Big and Small

May 10 - Washington Post - Google Inc. has become more comfortable doing big acquisitions but still sees small technology deals as its primary thrust for buying businesses, its chief executive said on Thursday.

Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told reporters at a briefing at Google headquarters that the Web search leader remained open to buying larger companies, as it has done twice in recent months, but that these were meant to plug holes in businesses. Read More.

Biotech M&A Seen Torrid

May 9 - Red Herring - The pace of mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology industry is seen to continue at a torrid pace through 2007, said panelists at the Biotechnology Industry Organization conference in Boston on Wednesday.

The bullish forecast was issued after a recent Ernst & Young report found that US biotech deal values soared to $23 billion in 2006—an all time record—while high premiums drove the value of acquisitions to the second highest level in history. Read More.

Indian media untouched by M&A wave

May 10 - Business Standard - After writing reams on merger and acquisitions (M&A) worth trillions of dollars, the media industry is now playing the protagonist in the takeover drama with $53 billion worth of hostile and agreed offers hitting the headlines since the beginning of 2007. While the overall M&A activities so far this year have crossed the $2 trillion mark, the media and publishing sector’s share has soared past $50 billion with two of the world’s biggest media properties Reuters and Dow Jones emerging as hot takeover targets. Read More.

M&A activity should continue into 2008, says Scotia Capital

National Post - Merger and acquisition activity continues to surge both in Canada and around the globe thanks to sustained earnings growth and the low financing costs that have helped private equity funds and others make deals. These factors should continue to drive M&A activity into 2008, according to Scotia Capital strategist Vincent Delisle. They should also help drive markets even higher, while investors search for the next potential takeover target or acquirer able to snatch up a key player. Read More.

Q&A: Scott H. Lang of S.H. Lang & Co. in Chicago on Middle-Market M&A

May 8 - Midwest Business - Scott H. Lang is the founder and CEO of S.H. Lang & Co., which is a new middle-market investment banking firm located in Chicago. In part two of a three-part series, Lang sat down with international expert Michael Muth of MidwestBusiness.com to discuss middle-market M&A. Read More.

North American oil M&A

April 30 - FT.com - A falling dollar tempts Europeans to hop on a plane and hunt for bargains across the Atlantic. The Old World’s oil executives are doing deals in North America for different reasons.

Between them, Eni of Italy and Statoil of Norway have announced almost $8bn of acquisitions in the US and Canada in the past few days. Statoil’s foray into Canadian oil sands is all about reducing dependence on mature fields at home. For Eni, assets bought from Dominion Resources strengthen an existing but marginal position in the Gulf of Mexico. Read More (subscription required).