INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - 16^th SEP - TO - 15^th OCT - 2009

GLOBAL M&A ACTIVITY PICKS UP STEAM

After witnessing a lull for quite some time, the global merger and acquisition activity is finally catching up speed, with as many as eight deals worth more than $1 billion each, being announced in the last seven days. According to global deal tracking firm Dealogic there were as many as eight deals valued over $1 billion that were announced a few days back adding up to $38.2 billion. “This is the highest weekly volume for deals over $1 billion since the week of June 22 when the $48.3 billion Anglo American/Xstrata deal was announced and volume totalled $61.5 billion,” Dealogic added. There has been an increase in average deal size as well. “Average deal size a few days back reached $111.4 million, the highest weekly average since the week of June 1, 2009 when this average totalled $120.8 million,” Dealogic added. A sectoral analysis of the global M&A deal activity since the third quarter of 2009 till date shows that telecom makes up the largest percentage share of deals in the over $1 billion category with eight deals making up $24.5 billion.