New BCG Study Identifies Major Trends That Will Continue to Drive M&A Through Volatile Financial Markets

Despite Near-Term Slowdown in Deal Making, Most Sectors Expected to Keep Consolidating as Private Equity Firms Remain Influential Players

Report Shatters Several M&A Myths and Sheds Light on Keys to Success in Increasingly Tough Market

August 15 - Marketwire - One of the largest-ever studies of mergers and acquisitions, conducted by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), identifies several trends that will continue to drive high deal flow, albeit at a reduced rate, through current volatility in the global financial markets.

The study, published in a new BCG report entitled "The Brave New World of M&A: How to Create Value from Mergers and Acquisitions," is based on a detailed analysis of more than 4,000 completed deals between 1992 and 2006. It is believed to be the largest nonacademic study of its kind.

"We are seeing a return to normalcy, which is healthy," said Jeff Gell, a Chicago-based partner and coauthor of the report, upon its release. "Prices and leverage will come down slightly, but volumes will remain high as the strategic need for most deals is still present. Companies are still sitting on excess cash that they need to deploy, and private equity funds still have large war chests that they need to put to work."

Cheaper stocks may trigger mergers

August 14 - The Cincinnati Post - The beating Wall Street suffered this past week might have actually created the perfect conditions to launch its revival - cheaper stock prices can herald a comeback for corporate acquisitions.

Dealmaking has been one of the market's biggest drivers, with some $1.26 trillion worth of acquisitions and private equity transactions announced in the U.S. so far this year. Market watchers believe mergers and acquisitions - particularly by big public companies - might be the catalyst to help get Wall Street back on track after the volatility seen in the past few weeks. Investors have weathered some tough sessions where stocks zigzagged, making triple-digit gains and losses. The Dow Jones industrials rose more than 150 points on Wednesday, then plunged about 400 points on Thursday and fell more than 200 points Friday before closing with a minuscule 31 point loss. Read More.

Canada: Private equity buyouts hit record levels

August 15 - National Post - The value of private equity buyouts in Canada for the first half of the year has already far exceeded the value for all of 2006, the Canadian Venture Capital Association said Wednesday.

In the first six months of 2007, 96 Canadian buyout transactions were announced with a value of $61-billion -- $13.8-billion of which was outside the record-breaking $47.2-billion Bell Canada buyout, the CVCA said.

That compares to 101 buyouts valued at $11.6-billion in all of 2006, it added. Read More.

Small cement firms may hog limelight

August 16 - The Economic Times - Shares of smaller cement companies are likely to be back in focus led by attractive valuations, firming product prices and likelihood of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the sector, according to investment bank CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

Though the cement industry is likely to see some news flow, both positive and negative, over the next three months, positive events may be the winner in the near term, which will bring smaller cement shares back to focus, CLSA said in a note to clients. Read More.

Credit crunch: Blackstone smells opportunity

President Tony James says the private equity firm has an eye on debt that has been oversold in the market.

August 13 - CNNMoney.com - The debt markets may be creating trouble for some leveraged buyout deals, but private equity titan Blackstone is sniffing out opportunities.

The private equity firm is keeping an eye on the debt of buyout deals that have come under financing pressure, Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer Tony James said Monday.

"We're starting to look directly at debt securities that are trading at distressed levels" but which aren't distressed at all, he told analysts. Read More.

PE firms to maintain M&A pace

August 14 - The Deal Blog - Boston Corporate Finance certainly isn't afraid of clambering out on a market-withered limb. The investment bank predicts flatly in a new report on recent technology M&A that buyout firms will continue making big acquisitions this year despite turmoil in the credit and debt markets. Citing strong growth among tech companies, robust corporate profits and investors' need to deploy capital, BCF says that "we do not believe private equity players will slow down their aggressive acquisition pace in the second half of 2007." Read More.

In hi-lo deal game, middle’s the winner

August 13 - Financial Week - While the plug has been pulled in the debt markets for the largest leveraged buyouts, activity in the middle market has surged on—for now.

“So far, we’ve seen no change in deal flow,” said Chris Williams, co-founder of middle-market investment bank Harris Williams & Co., adding that his company has closed five deals in recent weeks.

To the segment’s benefit—lately, at least—most middle-market deals, or those under $1 billion, have not been structured with the loosest terms, such as covenant-lite debt issues. Hence, the middle market isn’t feeling the pushback from lenders quite as much as the biggest deals are.

“The turmoil is really applicable at the higher end of the market—the $10 billion and $20 billion take-privates,” said Steve Bernard, director of M&A market analysis with Robert W. Baird, a middle-market investment bank. Read More.

Seven Questions: Steve Forbes Loves Private Equity

August 12 - Foreign Policy - Many in the U.S. Congress complain that Wall Street’s new titans aren’t paying their fair share of taxes. But Steve Forbes, editor in chief of Forbes magazine, warns that a proposed new tax on private-equity managers would only weaken the U.S. economy, punish entrepreneurs for taking risks, and hurt ordinary retirees. Read Q&A.

Funds find Detroit: Private equity money looks at affordable housing in Detroit

August 12 - Crane's Detroit Business - Private equity, flush with capital and running out of deals in traditional places, has taken aim at the local affordable-housing industry, with an expected deal in September expected to funnel more than $32 million directly into metro Detroit.

Why are such sums of money attracted to projects in distressed areas of Detroit and other communities? It's because navigating the complex world of tax credits allows banks, equity funds and builders to make money off projects that otherwise would make no financial sense.

The Lansing-based Great Lakes Capital Fund, whose Detroit office helps fund affordable-housing developments and commercial renovation in Southeast Michigan, is doing its first deal with a private-equity company, which wants to buy $300 million in bundled tax credits during the next three years. Read More.

A quiet kind of buyout boom

August 12 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - Phil Greifeld, CEO of Huddle House, remembers years of calls inquiring if his business was for sale.

It wasn't. But as buyouts flourished in 2006, Huddle House executives and directors reconsidered. Around Christmas, they sold a controlling interest to Allied Capital, a private equity firm in Washington, for $124 million.

Thanks to the flow of money into private equity — in other words, outside of public markets like the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ — companies around the Southeast have found willing buyers. Firms that specialize in the niche have prospered, too, because of the relative ease of raising or borrowing money.

Nationally, such deals have gotten much attention, such as the recent one that transformed Chrysler into a private company. The growing troubles in the sector are prominent, too, as the markets try to absorb the massive amount of debt needed to finance major transactions. Read More.

A Private Equity Stance on Talent

August 7 - Business Week - There are lessons to be learned from how a private equity venture views talent acquisition. While the trend now in private equity is to take companies private, the traditional long-term (three-year) goal is to have a company re-emerge as a new, stronger, more-efficient public entity.

That means moving quickly in all aspects of the business, especially talent assessment and recruitment. Too often, though, companies that aren't playing the mergers-and-acquisition equity game manage their recruitment process with an incremental approach. They might do better to employ a mind-set similar to that of a private equity venture, and move faster and think bigger. Read More.

Green technology firm finds a warm welcome on stock market

The move by the company, which has a market capitalisation of £27m, is a sign of the growing attractiveness of the green and renewable technology sectors to the City.

The company takes prototype designs for clean technologies such as clean coal power and biomass boilers, develops them and launches them on the market as commercial propositions. The firm, which was established two years ago, is obtaining several patents.

It has raised £7.5m through the placing, which values its shares at 63p. It will invest the proceeds in expanding its portfolio. Read More.

M&A Activity Heats Up Lodging

August 9 - Globe St.com - The US lodging industry has experienced an unprecedented level of merger and acquisition activity during the first half of 2007. Healthy industry operating metrics, along with an abundant amount of institutional and private debt and equity capital, has resulted in significant numbers of corporate entity and property level deals. Several recent M&A deals have been record setting, including the recently announced $26 billion acquisition of Hilton Hotels Corp. by the Blackstone Group. Read More.

The Joy of Private Equity

August 8 - Business Week - Private equity's proponents see privatizing as a fine way to fix a troubled business. Detractors say hooey—going private is about the money and that such deals do little more than make a few people very, very rich. The question: Do buyout firms like Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts add value to companies or just collect a heaping wad of cash?

Kenneth Langone, the billionaire investor and Home Depot co-founder, is clearly in the quick-buck camp. As an old-time wheeler-dealer, he views private equity as little more than a way to "get more juice out of a lemon" for investors—and Langone has no problem with that. "It ain't complicated," he said on Aug. 6 at the Academy of Management's annual conference in Philadelphia, explaining why private equity deals get done. "We tend to mystify simple math." Read More.

$924m private equity funds pour into realty

August 8 - ChinaDaily.com - Singapore-based Ascendas Pte Ltd, Asia's leading business property developer, yesterday launched two China-focused private equity funds totaling $924 million to invest in the country's booming industrial and commercial property market.

The $396 million Ascendas China Industrial & Business Parks Fund will seek to invest in industrial and business park assets in China, while the $528 million Ascendas China Commercial Fund will "target high-quality commercial properties" in the first-tier cities in the country, senior company officials said.

The industrial and business parks fund will mainly invest in light industrial and logistics facilities such as warehouses, distribution centers and suburban business offices, according to Tay Eng Kiat, CEO of Ascendas China. Read More.

Energy Bill Raises Hopes

Cleantech investors hailed on Monday the passage of a long-awaited energy bill in the U.S. House of Representatives as a step toward a more cohesive national energy policy, even as they lamented what it left out.

Among the more striking provisions of the bill is a national renewable energy standard requiring utilities to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. But the legislation, which passed in a 241-172 vote Saturday just before the summer recess, fell short of calling for an increase in fuel economy. Those and other results drew mixed reactions from venture capitalists and other investors who closely monitor the cleantech sector.

“There’s a real need for us to rethink how we use personal transportation,” said Peter Grubstein, managing member at NGEN Partners. “Changing the CAFÉ [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] standard would have been a push to both producers and consumers.” Mr. Grubstein also expressed disappointment the bill didn’t mandate a carbon cap-and-trade system. Read More.

Private equity investments in India can touch $15b in 2007

The total of private equity investments in India is set to cross $10 billion in the calendar year 2007 and may even touch $15 billion according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In the last 18 months private equity investments in India have picked up pace. According to Pricewaterhouse in 2005 the total private equity investment was $3.8 billion, in 2006 it moved up to $7.9 billion and in the first half of 2007 it has already crossed $6 billion.

PwC’s Sanjeev Krishan said: “In the last 18 months at PwC, we have done more work for private equity investors than for strategic investors. It was always the other way around before that. Private equity investments can touch $15 billion this year.” Read More.

Private equity firms honing in on health IT

August 3 - Modern Healthcare - Dealmaking surrounding health information technology businesses has been on the upswing in recent weeks, with private equity players driving much of the activity.

Private equity firms are buying, selling and making partial investment in health IT, an industry they view as primed for future growth.

"The financial markets are starting to take notice of the opportunities, and are putting their funds behind the healthcare technology sector," said Vern Davenport, executive vice president and general manager of Misys Healthcare Systems, a Raleigh, N.C.-based division of software company Misys, in an e-mail. Read More.

Have private equity tech takeovers peaked?

August 3 - Computer Business - Has the boom in private equity takeovers in the IT sector peaked already? The recent squeeze in the credit market has meant that private equity groups are finding it more difficult to gain access to the cheap debt that has fuelled the remarkable explosion in leveraged buy-outs over the last two years.

Private equity giants such as KKR, Cerberus and Blackstone fund takeovers through loans from credit investors, but escalating mortgage defaults in the US have forced the lenders to adopt a more cautious approach to would-be borrowers.

There was evidence of this shift in sentiment last week when investors at Chrysler and Alliance-Boots both rejected the terms on senior debt arising from the recent buyouts. And there are now signs that the flow of private equity moves in the technology and IT services space may be slowing down. Read More.

Canada's oil sands mergers get painfully pricey

August 3 - Reuters - Fat wallets and limited opportunities elsewhere may continue to push acquisitions in Canada's oil sands region, analysts say, though soaring costs may leave the sector open to only the very biggest companies.

Earlier this week U.S. refiner Marathon Oil Corp. agreed to pay $5.56 billion for Western Oil Sands Ltd., an eight-year old firm whose only operating asset is a 20 percent stake in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project run by Royal Dutch Shell.

The agreement is the latest in a series of big-ticket deals that have extended the reach of some of the globe's biggest oil and gas players into the muskeg and forests of northern Alberta, where an estimated 174 billion barrels of oil lie trapped in sand, a resource second only to Saudi Arabia's. Read More.

U.S. Middle Market Companies Confident about Business Growth in Year Ahead Despite Concerns about Slowing Economy

July 30 - Business Wire - Sixty-four percent of U.S. middle market companies, with revenues between $25 million and $1 billion, are predicting growth over the next 12 months, even though nearly 60% believe the U.S. economy will slow down, according to a new study from the Economist Intelligence Unit and CIT Group Inc., a leading global commercial and consumer finance company. Respondents also indicated that a "shortage of talented staff" and high "labor costs" were the top two challenges to achieving this growth.

The study, "Perspectives from America's Economic Engine: The CIT U.S. Middle Market Outlook 2007," surveyed more than 500 senior financial decision-makers at companies with revenues between $25 million and $1 billion. According to the most recent U.S. Census, the middle market accounts for more than $6 trillion in sales and employs almost 32 million Americans, which is more than twice the revenues and four times the number of employees of the blue-chip companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Read More.

China's Private Equity Dynasty?

August 2 - The Motley Fool - According to a recent piece in BusinessWeek, private equity firms spent a total of $737.4 billion in 2006 -- more than the entire GDP of Australia! With buyout firms profiting 20% to 30% per year on average from their lucrative deals, rapid growth in the private equity market is no surprise. Now these firms are turning to global markets for additional opportunities, and their attention is increasingly fixed on China.

In the past, Chinese government regulation has prevented foreign private equity firms from buying up companies there. However, Chinese leaders recently found that the majority of the country's corporate financing still comes from bank loans, and they now apparently realize the need for a domestic private equity industry. Accordingly, the government has created new regulations to allow private equity players access to Chinese companies. Read More.

Stubs: Private equity opens its door to the public

August 1 - Report on Business - With tightening debt markets around the world forcing private equity firms to hit the brakes on as many as 20 planned leveraged buyouts, there is speculation the big buyout boom that's been driving stock markets may finally be running out of gas.

Where not too long ago private equity could command very favourable terms from the market, making the fuel for their leveraged buyouts quite cheap, skittish investors are suddenly demanding better terms for high-yield loans. Banks that loan billions of dollars to private equity firms for buyouts are having difficulties getting debt investors to purchase the loans.

Here's the thing. The sharp slump may make corporate valuations irresistible and, come Labour Day, some market watchers believe private equity will again be putting the pedal to the metal. So what's a smart private equity player to do? Look for ways to increase their leverage even further, of course. If there's one thing private equity players know and understand, it's how to use their cash to best advantage. Read More.

Murdoch and Dow Jones: How The Deal Got Done

August 1 - NY Times Blog - While Rupert Murdoch finally won his long-coveted prize — gaining enough support from the deeply divided Bancroft family to buy Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal — closing the $5 billion deal was a marathon of conference calls and all-nighters for those involved in the deal-making process.

Following four months of back-and-forth, during which some three dozen members of the family engaged in an intense, sometimes tearful debate about The Journal’s future, the boards of both Dow Jones and Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation voted Tuesday night to approve the deal.

In a press release early Wednesday, Dow Jones said it had signed a “definitive merger agreement” under which it would be acquired by News Corp. Read More.

Industry Groups Warn Against Tax Hike

July 31 - Associated Press - Private equity, hedge fund and real estate executives warned senators on Tuesday that raising taxes on their firms would harm a wide range of companies that benefit from their investments, including developers in poor urban areas.

Congress is debating whether to force companies set up as limited partnerships _ and their managers _ to pay taxes at the same rate as income earned by ordinary Americans. Proposed legislation would raise taxes from 15 percent to as much as 35 percent for profits earned by private equity and hedge funds, and fees paid to their managers.

Though private equity groups and hedge funds could be tempting targets for lawmakers looking to pay for new federal programs, the industry has been lobbying aggressively against the tax hike and key senators appear to be heeding their concerns. Read More.

Corporate Buyers Hit Gas on Deals

July 31 - Wall Street Journal - With deal-related financing markets in disarray, private-equity buyouts are being delayed around the world, giving corporate buyers an advantage over the cash-rich private-equity firms for the first time in years.

Consider Virgin Media Inc. The British cable-television operator is proceeding with an auction of the company after already having received this month a nearly $10 billion takeover approach from Washington private-equity firm Carlyle Group. That could benefit the cable-industry players exploring a bid, a list that includes Liberty Global Inc., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Comcast Corp.

Carlyle and a competing consortium of four private-equity firms will likely have trouble making a firm bid until credit markets calm and banks are able to sell the stockpile of debt building up on their balance sheets, people close to the matter say. The cable companies, though, likely could plow ahead. Read More.

Wheels Greased For Mergers In Oil Services

July 30 - Forbes - Worries of fading buyout activity rattled U.S. equity markets last week, but the M&A action could just be starting in the oilfield services and equipment sector.

Bear Stearns analyst Robin Shoemaker said Monday to expect more deals making among oilfield services and equipment companies. He said a shortage of skilled labor, competition for a technological edge and overcapitalization will push further consolidation. Read More.

U.S. Middle Market Companies Confident about Business Growth in Year Ahead Despite Concerns about Slowing Economy

July 30 - Business Wire - Sixty-four percent of U.S. middle market companies, with revenues between $25 million and $1 billion, are predicting growth over the next 12 months, even though nearly 60% believe the U.S. economy will slow down, according to a new study from the Economist Intelligence Unit and CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a leading global commercial and consumer finance company. Respondents also indicated that a “shortage of talented staff” and high “labor costs” were the top two challenges to achieving this growth.

The study, "Perspectives from America’s Economic Engine: The CIT U.S. Middle Market Outlook 2007,” surveyed more than 500 senior financial decision-makers at companies with revenues between $25 million and $1 billion. According to the most recent U.S. Census, the middle market accounts for more than $6 trillion in sales and employs almost 32 million Americans, which is more than twice the revenues and four times the number of employees of the blue-chip companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Read More.

Drilling industry rethinks mergers

July 26 - Houston Chronicle - There are few benefits to be gained from more consolidation in the offshore drilling industry and enough work for even smaller drillers to thrive without it, a top Diamond Offshore Drilling executive said Thursday.

Yet the entire industry has had to give mergers more thought since Monday's announcement that industry titans Transocean and Global- SantaFe Corp. had agreed to join forces, he said.

"Certainly, everybody is re-looking at it in light of the recently announced transaction," Larry Dickerson, Diamond Offshore's president, said in a conference call Thursday morning to discuss the company's quarterly financial results. Read More.

Market turmoil puts squeeze on private equity deals

July 27 - Reuters - It was a week that may have changed the balance of power on Wall Street, with buyers gaining the upper hand for the first time in years.

It was also the worst week for the U.S. stock market in five years as fear of risk gripped investors.

The dealmakers and their investment banks had been in the driver's seat, forcing investors to swallow transactions at a price they dictated. Read More.

UPDATE: Chain Of Chemical Mergers Likely To Set Off Even More

July 24 - Dow Jones - The rapid pace of acquisitions recently in the typically humdrum chemicals sector has ratcheted up expectations that more are coming, as makers of the building blocks for a slew of household products seek to expand their global reach.

"We expect more consolidation," said Matt Hekman, analyst for Overland Park, Kans.-based investment adviser Waddell & Reed.

"International companies are looking to establish a presence here, and domestic companies are looking to establish, mostly via joint ventures, presences in countries with lower-cost feedstocks, like the Mideast," he said.

Considered as likely targets, say analysts, are bulk chemicals producer Nova Chemicals Corp., as well as companies in the fragmented coatings, or paint-parts, sector and manufacturers of industrial gases. Read More.

M&A Activity Buoys Stocks

July 23 - Business Week - Another wave of M&A activity, plus earnings news from Merck, pushed stocks higher Monday as markets approach the heart of second quarter's earnings season.

On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 92.34 points, or 0.67%, to 13,943.42. The broader S&P 500 index gained 0.77%, or 11.8 points, to 1,545.90. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index edged up 2.98 points, or 0.11%, to 2,690.58.

Stock indexes were bouncing back a bit from Friday, when major averages fell more than 1%, including the Dow, which fell from its record close above 14,000. However, Monday's recovery was weak: for every 17 stocks dropping in price on the New York Stock Exchange, 16 rose in price. On the Nasdaq, the ratio was 16-14 negative. Read More.

Mergers, acquisitions on target to set records

July 20 - The Vancouver Sun - The pace of worldwide mergers and acquisitions is on fire and the total values are likely to set records this year, according to a survey released Thursday, with the majority of Canadian and global dealmakers calling the current M&A environment good or excellent.

Worldwide, mergers chalked up a record $2.7 trillion US in deals in the first half of 2007, nearly 70-per-cent higher than the same period last year and outstripping the previous record of $1.93 trillion US set in 2000, said the survey by New York-based Association for Corporate Growth and Thomson Financial. Read More.

Time to prepare for the coming M&A wave

July 19 - China Daily (Commentary) - The continuous economic boom that has taken place in China over the last 28 years makes it a powerhouse of global prosperity. And now the country has become involved in the newest development of economic globalization.

The wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) among international businesses that has swept across the globe will ensure the rise of global corporations in the 21st century.

This explosion in M&As began in 2004 and peaked in 2006, when deals worth $3.5 trillion were inked. The deal-making has continued apace this year - M&A agreements involving $2 trillion were reached in the first four months of this year, up 60 percent from the same period last year.

The M&A deals range from the finance, electricity generation, property and media sectors to consumer goods. They have taken place in the US, Europe and many developing countries. Read More.

M&A in Trouble? Not Necessarily

July 21 - WSJ - The merger-and-acquisition boom looks as though it's in trouble. Bond and loan markets are tightening, which will make it tougher for private-equity firms to raise the cash they need to finance leveraged buyouts.

But Robert Keiser, an analyst at Thomson Financial, has tried to cast a different light on the doom and gloom.

According to Mr. Keiser, a vice president in Thomson's Proprietary Research group, there is a 67% correlation between economic activity and M&A activity going back to 1990. Though the economy may be slowing a bit, it's still growing at a healthy clip of roughly 3% annually. Read More.

Atmosphere phenomenal for mergers and acquisitions, survey finds

July 18 - The Business Journal: Phoenix - With a record $2.7 trillion in worldwide mergers during the first half of the year, dealmakers are giddy. According to a new survey by the Association for Corporate Growth and Thomson Financial, approximately 93 percent call the M&A environment "good" or "excellent."

However, private equity professionals are concerned that the easy availability of debt financing (which has helped fuel transactions) will tighten, with 68 percent saying the debt markets will be worse in the next year.

In Arizona, the market continues to run hot, garnering interest from out-of-state and international buyers. Read More.

RSM McGladrey CEO/CFO Survey Indicates Positive Growth for Small, Middle-Market Companies

July 18 - Carolina Newswire - The manufacturing and wholesale distribution segments in North Carolina and South Carolina continue to see positive growth across several industry segments, according to the RSM McGladrey 2007 Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution National Survey.

Conducted this spring, the second annual RSM McGladrey survey provides insights into what CEOs, CFOs, and other senior industry executives are thinking, doing and planning to grow their businesses in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Industry executives were asked questions about cost structure, profitability, technology initiatives, operations, globalization and more.

Of the 947 surveys completed by executives of manufacturing and wholesale distributor companies nationwide, 43 originated from North Carolina and South Carolina. Read More.

Transportation and logistics M&A activity continues to make strides

July 17 - Logistics Management - Coming off of a busy 2006 in which there were approximately $7 billion in mergers and acquisition activity in the transportation and logistics market, activity in this space through the first seven months of this year appears to be maintaining that momentum, according to Ben Gordon, managing director of BG Strategic Advisors.

Speaking at the eyefortransport 3PL Summit/Outsourcing Logistics event in Atlanta last month, Gordon likened the brisk rate of deal making in this sector to a form of “winner take all economics,” in which there is a rapid ascension of capital being deployed by private equity and venture capital firms into transportation and logistics companies. Read More.

Global M&A activity expected to slow down: But technology M&A deal value may still be booming

July 17 - VNUNET - The current worldwide boom in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is set to slowdown, according to new research.

Consultancy KPMG says the total number of global deals in 2007 will decrease from 2006, a year when the average size and volume of M&A deals reached an all-time high.

'The momentum which delivered record M&A growth in 2006 is not likely to be sustained,' said Stephen Barrett, international chairman, corporate finance at KPMG. Read More.

M&A Activity Still Strong in Private Equity Firms

July 16 - CNBC - Global M&A activity has reached its peak, according to a report recently released by KPMG, though two analysts believe that's only true among small companies -- not when the buyers are large businesses or private equity firms.

Tom Burnett, director of research at Access Wall Street, said M&A activity among small companies may have peaked for now, but he believes high-profile deals could still continue.

He referred to Rio Tinto's recent cash bid for aluminum producer Alcan, as well as Royal Bank of Scotland's bid for Dutch group ABN Amro. Read More.

M&A engine could be sputtering

July 16 - Financial Week - Deal-making in the first half of 2007 was ahead of last year’s record pace, but the value of deals.

The pace of deal-making in the first half of 2007 continued to one-up the record set in 2006, with the total value of both announced and completed M&A deals up 51% and 32%, respectively. But June figures showed a marked slowdown. According to research from Zephyr, the M&A database arm of Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing, the total known value of deals announced last month was $442 billion, less than half of May’s $891 billion bonanza. That’s the steepest drop in mergers and acquisitions in 14 months, according to Bloomberg, and some market watchers are saying it may be a sign that the five-year bull market is nearing an end.

The decision by leveraged buyout firm Blackstone Group to sell shares to the public in the largest U.S. IPO in five years could be another sign of a top. Read More.

Canada to review mergers policy

July 12 - MSNBC - Canada's minority Conservative government has set up an independent panel, led by a prominent businessman, to examine competition and investment policies in the wake of a flurry of mergers and acquisitions that could reshape key sectors of the economy.

The panel's findings are widely expected to lead to a significant relaxation of foreign ownership and competition rules in the telecommunications industry. They could also lay the groundwork for mergers among domestic banks, which have been blocked for the past decade by political sensitivities.

The group is also likely to address concerns about the "hollowing-out" of corporate Canada as a result of a series of foreign takeovers of some of the most prominent companies. Read More.

Chiefs of Arcelor Mittal, U.S. Steel predict more M&A

July 12 - MarketWatch - The chiefs of two of the world's largest steel makers said Thursday they see more consolidation ahead, most likely across continents and within China's fragmented and fast-growing industry.

Lakshmi Mittal, chief executive of Arcelor Mittal, and John Surma, chief executive of United States Steel Corp., told the Associated Press in a joint interview that the steel industry can expect to see more intercontinental combinations like those of the past year as opposed to the regional marriages of earlier years.

The executives were in New York for a board meeting of the International Iron and Steel Institute, for which Surma serves as chairman.

"I think consolidation now will be between bigger companies and perhaps across longer distances and will be bigger transactions," Surma said. "How quickly that happens depends on how adventuresome companies are and how much they want to risk." Read More.

India second in global M&A deals ranking

July 11 - The Hindu - India has been ranked second in the global M&A deals this year so far in the Asia-Pacific region, with a total outbound deal value of $ 13.5 billion, a latest report says.

According to data complied by global consultancy firm 'Dealogic', Australia tops the Asia-Pacific cross-border outflow with over 125 deals worth $ 30 billion, followed by India with a total of 74 foreign acquisitions in the current year so far.

Some of the significant outbound cross-border deals include Suzlon Energy's acquisition of REpower for $ 1.7 billion, Vijay Mallya-led United Spirits buying out Whyte & Mackay for $ 1.11 billion, Tata Power picking up stake in two Indonesian firms and Essar Group's purchase of Canadian Algoma Steel for about $ 1.55 billion. Read More.

Small companies, big shoppers

July 9 - The Economic Times - Call it a buying spree by India's minnow brigade in the global bazaar. Just when you thought that the strengthening of the rupee is taking its toll on exports, a bunch of small firms seized the opportunity to gobble up a few foreign firms. As many as 46 overseas acquisitions by small and medium-sized companies in India have been recorded in the past one year alone.

Of the 46 acquisition deals that have been concluded in the past year, 41 companies are by small, says a research analyst at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Though a bulk of these acquisitions are in the IT space, sectors like pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, agro, automotive, electrical and electronics and food and beverages, among others, too have added a chapter to the M&A story. The IT industry had the maximum number of acquisitions to its credit. While big Indian companies have been shying away from large ac-quisitions, mid-size IT players have been setting more aggressive acquisition targets. Mid-tier companies need to attain scale to get invited to the same bids as the big firms. Some of them are focused on niche areas and need to build competencies in those areas. Read More.

PE firms beat India Inc on the M&A turf

The private equity juggernaut, which has been scorching the global deal street, has come of age in India. For the first time, the value of PE deals in a single month has overtaken that of strategic merger & acquisitions. June reported $1.8 billion worth of PE deals in the country — the highest in a single month — overtaking strategic M&A deals at $1.72 billion.

As per the latest deal tracker by advisory firm Grant Thornton, there were 36 PE deals during June totalling $1.81 billion as against 24 deals worth $1.56 billion during May.

Says Grant Thornton partner-corporate advisory services CG Srividya, “One of the reasons for this is the increasing number of buyouts and PE interest in the real estate and infrastructure sectors. Our estimates show that close to $1 billion worth of PE money went to the real estate and infrastructure sectors in June alone.” Read More.

M&A Market Strong But Debt Concerns May Curtail Activity

July 5 - Investor's Business Daily - It's become something of a spectator sport, trying to predict when the market for mergers and acquisitions will finally back off of its breakneck pace.

It didn't happen last quarter. In fact, the $1.65 trillion in announced global deals set a new record for a three-month period, according to data from Thomson Financial.

The third quarter is off to a roaring start as well. Blackstone bx late Tuesday announced a $26 billion takeover of Hilton Hotels. And legendary private equity outfit Kohlberg Kravis Roberts filed plans to go public on the heels of Blackstone's huge IPO in late June.

Those events notwithstanding, you still hear plenty of chatter that M&A activity is headed for a slowdown. Much of the talk centers on lenders, and whether they'll finally tighten the reins on the cheap loans and attractive financing packages they've been trotting out. Read More.

India witnessing buoyancy in M&A activity on robust economy - report

July 2 - Forbes - India has been witnessing buoyancy in mergers and acquisitions activity, thanks to a robust domestic economy, relative improvement in infrastructure, unprecedented liquidity and continuation of economic reform process, according to ICICI Bank's Private Banking Research Division.

In its Global Investment Outlook report, the bank says the total equity deals struck by Indian companies have crossed 50 bln usd in 2007.

Of these, strategic mergers and acquisitions were of 46.4 bln usd, while private equity deals were worth 5.1 bln usd. Read More.

China and India Pace Asia Stock, M&A Activity

WSJ - Chinese and Indian companies raised the most money from the stock market during the first half, according to a ranking of Asian countries excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand, from data provider Dealogic.

China and India also led in the mergers-and-acquisitions league, Dealogic data showed Friday. Dealogic's preliminary data will be released in a full report next week.

Fueled by the booming economy, the number of Chinese initial public offerings nearly doubled in the January-June period from a year ago and helped push the number of stock deals in Asia, excluding Japan, up 55% from ... Read More (subscription required)

M&A on pace for record despite signs of strain

June 29 - Reuters - Global M&A activity is on target for a record year after a first-half surge, bankers say, despite growing signs the benign lending environment that has underpinned the current boom may be coming to an end.

An increase in cross-border corporate mergers helped Europe push past the United States in volume for the first time in four years, and lifted the global tally of announced M&A in the first half by 51 percent to $2.8 trillion, according to preliminary data released on Friday by research firm Dealogic.

Global M&A was $1.9 trillion in the first half of 2006.

"It's undoubtedly going to be the biggest M&A market ever (this year)," said Dag Skattum, JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s global co-head of M&A. Read More.

Pace of Mergers and Acquisitions Expected to Continue

July 1 - SeekingAlpha - Rick Konrad submits: The merits (and demerits) of private equity have been debated by market participants, and unfortunately ne'er-do-well politicians in much of the first half of this year with a recent crescendo in the debate. I think this article highlights some of the dimensions around the issue and provides a number of useful data points. Read More.

Asia M&A activity soars 50 pct in record first half

June 29 - Reuters - Asia Pacific mergers and acquisitions excluding Japan surged 50 percent in the first half to a record $253 billion, with Australian buyout deals and an overseas push by Indian firms expected to keep activity at high levels.

Australia accounted for $76 billion worth of deals in the half, followed by China ($55 billion) and India ($39 billion), according to preliminary data from Dealogic.

"This year has been characterised by a good spread of volumes. India's been very strong and success has begotten success," said Matthew Hanning, head of Asia Pacific M&A at UBS Investment Bank. Read More.

UK M&A gets off to a sprint start

June 29 - MSNBC - London-based investment bankers who spent the past week hyperventilating into a brown paper bag about the turmoil in the credit markets should come up for air.

This has been the fastest start to the year ever for UK target acquisitions, so, even if the markets worsen, they will have already earned their bonuses.

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 - according to data from Thomson Financial. The huge volume of activity has in part been driven by foreign acquirers shopping for investments in the UK. Read More.

U.S. merger volume hits record despite soft June

June 28 - Reuters - Merger activity in the United States hit a new record in the first half of the year, fueled by deep-pocketed private equity firms and low borrowing costs, even as the pace of deals began to slow in June, investment bankers said on Thursday.

The U.S. broke through the $1 trillion level for total mergers, marking the first time that mergers have hit that level in the first six months of any year, according to research firm Dealogic.

So far this year, U.S. merger volume totaled $1.005 trillion, up 36 percent from the same period a year ago. The number of deals, however, dropped 12 percent, Dealogic said. Read More.

M&A deals soar despite credit concerns

June 28 - FT.com - The volume of merger and acquisition activity worldwide surged 50 per cent to reach $2,780bn (€2,067bn) during the first six months of the year, despite growing concerns among companies about a turn in the credit markets and fears that the cycle has reached its peak.

Since 2003, chief executives and private equity investors have been fuelling the M&A boom by taking advantage of cheap debt and strong cash flows to bid for companies with attractive valuations. However, in recent days, several companies have postponed or withdrawn planned offerings of shares, bonds and loans because of concerns over the US subprime market, raising fears that the cycle has reached its peak and activity will slow. Read More.

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.

Most Indian M&A deals are bite-sized: Tarun Khanna

June 27 - LiveMint.com - Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann professor of strategy at Harvard Business School, discusses the globalization efforts of Indian companies.

Jorge Paulo Lemann professor of strategy at Harvard Business School, Tarun Khanna, says some Indian firms are born ‘global’ and that their global acquisitions will gain further momentum. Khanna was in Mumbai for the launch of Going Global Initiative, an effort by industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry to launch a support group and knowledge bank for Indian companies seeking a global presence. Khanna, who has written extensively on the rise of India and China, is creating an index of globalization that companies can use to benchmark themselves. In an interview with Mint, Khanna discussed the globalization efforts of Indian companies. Read Q&A.

Value of mergers and acquisitions in global metals doubles to $77.4 billion

June 26 - Canadian Press - Deal activity in the global metals industry soared to new highs last year, with the total value of mergers and acquisitions more than doubling to $77.4 billion, a PricewaterhouseCoopers report released Tuesday finds.

In all, 224 deals were disclosed, down from 250 in 2005 but the value of the Top 10 deals was $65.5 billion, a huge increase on the $19.4 billion of the previous year, the report states.

Most of the deal-making took place in steel, accounting for 166 transactions worth $70.4 billion. Read More.

Another record for M&A, no slowdown seen -Thomson

June 22 - Reuters - Global corporate merger activity in the first half of 2007 surged 53 percent to a record-high $2.5 trillion as Europe equalled the United States for the first time in four years, new research released on Friday showed.

Mergers and acquisitions in the first half exceeded the 1999 all-time high of $1.9 trillion by a third, according to preliminary figures from market data firm Thomson Financial. Read More.

As Paris Air Show Opens, Worldwide Defense/Aerospace M&A in 2007 Reaches Record $33.2 Billion Level

June 19 - PRNewswire - Going into the Paris Air Show, M&A activity for the year is already running at record rates, with $33.2 billion in transactions announced or completed, according to Defense Mergers & Acquisitions (DM&A), the industry's premiere online news and analysis service focused on M&A activity in the defense, aerospace, and government technology sectors.

Of the 225 deals completed or in progress, 20 are by U.S. companies abroad (including the year's largest deal, GE's $4.8 billion acquisition of Smiths Aerospace). An even larger number of deals, 26, feature international buyers moving into the U.S. market. This total is dominated by the U.K. (with 14 deals), but also includes Canada (with 6), Scandinavia (3), the Netherlands (2), and the UAE (1). In terms of value, foreign buyers in the U.S. had the upper hand, with $12.8 billion worth of transactions, more than twice the $5.5 billion which American buyers spent outside the U.S. Read More.

Interview: Hector Cuellar; Valuations in US, Europe are much cheaper than in India

June 17 - The Financial Express - Hector Cuellar, president, RSM Equico, a leading international investment banking firm specialising in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and corporate finance for middle-market businesses, on his visit to India talked to players in the IT/ITeS, pharma, healthcare, engineering and construction companies among others, where he sees good response from the Indian companies for mid-size deals overseas. Cuellar shares his views with Smita Joshi of The Financial Express, on his plans for India and the M&A trend. Read More.

India set to spend $35b in global mergers

June 18 - GulfNews.com - Indian firms flush with funds are expected to spend more than $35 billion this year on buying or merging with foreign companies, a report said yesterday.

Indian businesses seemed to have an increasing appetite for risk and this was driving global merger and acquisition deals, according to the report from Ernst & Young and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Read More.

Interest rates not yet seen threatening IPOs, M&A

June 14 - MarketWatch - Investment bankers and analysts are keenly watching the global rise in interest rates, but said that they don't expect it to derail deal-making or IPO activity anytime soon.

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasurys climbed toward a five-year high of 5.25% Tuesday, while in Europe the 10-year Bund yield rose almost 6 basis points to 4.6%. The jump in yields has been driven by strong economic growth and rising inflation, which has prompted central bankers in Europe, Japan and elsewhere to raise, or consider raising, interest rates.

The move in bond yields put equities around the globe under pressure, but bankers said that the impact on the European new issues market had been limited so far. After unsteady starts Wednesday, most European bourses were recovering later in the day, while U.S. markets were stronger. Read More.

RSM McGladrey CEO/CFO Survey Indicates Positive Growth for Small, Middle-Market Companies

Many U.S. manufacturers and wholesale distributors are missing global opportunities, overlooking risk and underutilizing tax credits and government programs.

June 14 - Business Wire - The manufacturing and wholesale distribution segments in the United States continue to see positive growth across several industry segments, according to the RSM McGladrey 2007 Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution National Survey, released today.

Conducted this spring, the second annual RSM McGladrey survey provides insights into what CEOs, CFOs, and other senior industry executives are thinking, doing and planning to grow their businesses in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Participants were asked questions about cost structure, profitability, technology initiatives, operations, globalization and more.

A total of 947 surveys were completed, representing a strong cross sample of U.S. companies in varying industry segments and revenue size. Read More.

Mergers' India Connection

June 14 - WSJ.com - There are many low-margin businesses where outsourcing operations to India can mean the difference between profit and loss. Investment banking, with its big fees and lavish paychecks, isn't one of them.

But some Wall Street securities firms are going that route. Merrill Lynch & Co. has taken a minority stake in the Indian research firm Copal Partners, which specializes in creating what are known as "deal books" for corporate mergers and takeovers.

Copal is officially based in the United Kingdom but maintains a research staff of about 540 near New Delhi. Founded five years ago, the firm made its name by putting together deal books, which investment bankers give to potential deal participants, but more recently its research has branched into other areas, like credit and special situations. Read More.

Tender-offer mergers on rise

June 13 - Philly.com - Corporate acquisitions through tender offers are making a comeback, a trend that could reduce shareholder protests over merger prices.

Most mergers and acquisitions need to win support from a majority of the target company's shareholders via a costly and time-consuming proxy-voting process. In tender offers, the acquirer aims to take over a company by buying up its shares, usually at a premium to entice shareholders to sell, or tender, their shares to the acquirer.

The use of tender offers in friendly mergers had been all but dead in recent years because of confusion over the rules. But such deals - which can take half the time of a merger approved through a vote of shareholders - were revived last year after the Securities and Exchange Commission clarified the process. Read More.

Harris Williams says lenders are key to M&A boom

June 12 - Reuters - Middle market M&A specialist adviser Harris Williams & Co. said on Tuesday it expects no prolonged slowdown in the record pace of global mergers unless lenders become less aggressive.

Some experts have said higher interest rates in Europe and uncertainty about the cost of borrowing in the United States could slow some aspects of the global M&A boom.

Accommodating debt markets helped spur M&A activity to record levels in the past year, with more than $4 trillion of deals in 2006 alone, but the hot pace has slowed during the past two weeks. Read More.

Indian M&A Deals Set Yearly Record -- By May

June 12 - Forbes - 2007 isn't even half done, but it’s already been a record year for mergers and acquisitions in India. There has been over $50 billion worth of equity deals from January through May, according to data from Grant Thornton.

Indian businesses reported 287 strategic mergers and acquisitions worth $46.8 billion and 165 private equity deals worth $5.1 billion, the accounting and advisory company said.

Those numbers are a vast leap over 2006, in which the total value of all deals was $28.2 billion, which itself was 54% higher than 2005. Tech businesses captured the largest proportion of deal value last year at 14%. This year, some of the largest investments have been in telecommunications and steel. Read More.

Indian M&A spiced with foreign flavour

June 11 - Deccan Herald - India Inc is showing a distinct foreign flavour in its M&A deals, with cross-border deal value going up nearly 16 times at $4.11 billion as compared to the value of domestic deals in May, a latest report shows.

According to data compiled by global consultancy firm Grant Thornton, 42 cross-border deals with an announced value of $4.11 billion were carried out by Corporate India in May, while 32 domestic M&As garnered just $0.26 billion to their kitty.

The total number of M&A deals announced in May was worth $4.37 billion, with United Spirits buying out Whyte & Mackay for $1.11 billion, and Suzlon Energy’s controlling stake in REpower for 1.7 billion dollars, being the most significant deals of the month, Thorton said.

The M&A deals in the month totalled 74 with announced values of $4.37 billion as against 57 deals worth $3.98 billion in April, Thornton’s Dealtracker report said. Read More.

Equity deals till May race past $50 bn

June 11 - The Economic Times - For the first-time ever, total equity deals struck by India Inc in a year has crossed the $50-billion mark. A total of $46.8 billion worth of strategic mergers & acquisitions (M&As) and $5.1 billion worth of private equity (PE) deals were announced in the country during January-May 2007. Compare this with M&As worth $10.8 billion and $3.5 billion of PE deals struck during January-June 2006.

As per the latest dealtracker of advisory firm Grant Thornton, 287 strategic M&A deals worth $46.8 billion were struck in the first five months of this year. Read More.

Is a wave of ethanol mergers coming?

June 7 - Agriculture Online - This week's announcement that the local owners of Dakota Ethanol, a 48-million gallon ethanol plant in Wentworth, South Dakota, plan to merge with Countryside Renewable Energy, LLC, may not be the last.

Countryside, founded by Des Moines, Iowa, venture capitalist John Pappajohn, has been set up to facilitate the mergers of smaller farmer-owned plants into a larger business able to compete as bigger players move into ethanol production.

"For independents, this is a middle ground between standing alone and selling out," Brian Woldt, a farmer and Dakota Ethanol board member told Agriculture Online. "Consolidation is both an offensive and defensive move. If it's going to happen, you can shape what it will look like." Read More.

Food Stocks May Be Poised For New Round of M&A

June 6 - MSNBC.com - Last week, Kraft Foods shares went on a wild ride driven by market chatter that Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway was eying an investment in the food company. The maker of Oscar Mayer meats, DiGiornio pizza and Oreo cookies isn't the only food company at the center of such speculation. Pittsburgh ketchup maker H.J. Heinz was recently rumored to be in talks with a private equity buyer, but CEO Bill Johnson tried to dispel that talk in a recent interview on CNBC.

The recent wave of M&A and private equity has missed the larger packaged food manufacturers, but the sector remains on the radar screen of private equity players, who could be poised to begin a new round of deal-making. After all, the group has long been prized for its stable profile and reliable cash generation. Read More.

Indian industry optimistic about M&A deals

June 6 - The Hindu - The Indian industry is still game for global merger and acquisition (M&A) deals even as a majority of the top corporate honchos are of the view that they are paying much more than the actual value of the companies targeted.

According to a survey by global research and analysis firm Evalueserve, even though there is near unanimity among corporates and analysts that aggressive buy-out deals are essential for growth and geographical expansion, 56 per cent of the 100 top executives surveyed feel that the acquiring companies are shelling out more than the true value for their acquisitions. "Most executives feel that the acquisition trends reflect India Inc.'s global leadership aspirations and that M&A is an integral part of the companies' globalisation strategies." Read More.

Use of insurance for M&A deals growing

June 4 - Investment News - The fear of mergers-and-acquisition agreements’ going sour increasingly is being eased by insurance, according to industry experts.

With private-equity and other M&A activity gaining steam, “transaction facilitation” insurance indirectly protects advisers’ clients — many of whom are investors and stockholders in companies being acquired or making acquisitions. The insurance covers losses if transactions are tarnished by contract breaches or events that due diligence failed to anticipate.

The policies get their name from their ability to grease deals that might otherwise be delayed — or abandoned altogether — because of fears involving potential liability, contract breaches or other unanticipated events. Read More.

Future Mergers

June 1 - Energy Central - Groupings of mammoth super-regional utilities in the United States won't happen any time soon. But analysts expect mergers in other forms to keep occurring as power and gas companies here seek new efficiency gains.

The ultimate goal of those companies is to increase their earnings growth. Through expansion, they could earn more than 2 percent, and up to 5 percent, while at the same time drawing new equity investors. Repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 that restricted utilities' business activities has attracted investor interest. But it has also attracted more scrutiny from state regulators. That's why the trend overall is for companies to acquire strategic divisions -- ones that fit nicely with corporate missions.

Consider Williams Cos., which just recently agreed to sell most of its power assets to the energy trading subsidiary of Bear Stearns Cos. for more than $500 million. Williams is now completely out of the electricity business. Read More.

Foreign investors shy of Chinese mergers and acquisitions

June 2 - People's Daily Online (China) - Mergers and takeovers of Chinese companies by foreign investors brought in actual investment of 1.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 49 percent from a year earlier but accounting for only two percent of the total foreign investment in use in 2006.

Greenfield investment, or new operations on a bare site, remained the dominant foreign investment, Sun Peng, deputy director of the Foreign Investment Department with the Ministry of Commerce, said on Friday at the 2007 International Business Group Annual Conference.

The government approved almost 1,300 foreign mergers and acquisitions last year, up 25 percent from 2005, but most were non-state-owned enterprises, accounting for 62 percent of last year's total foreign contractual merger and acquisition investment of 4.8 billion U.S. dollars. Read More.

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).