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Risk Arbitrage Related News
 in chronological order

 See also: Risk Arbitrage Related Books, Risk Arbitrage Related Scholarly Papers, or Risk Arbitrage Home Page.

Table of Contents:
 

Money follows hot metal on M&A hit-list

June 16, 2006
From The Sydney Morning Herald:
METALS are the new green on Wall Street, with mining taking over from financial services as the biggest source of mergers and acquisitions.

The value of announced mining takeovers more than tripled to $US199 billion ($212 billion) in the first five months of 2008 from a year ago, even as the global pace of M&A dropped 37 per cent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

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M&A soars as companies grab opportunities

June 15, 2006
From Financial Times:
The value of mergers and acquisitions within Asia is soaring as the region’s leading companies take advantage of opportunities to build scale and secure resources in fast-growing markets closer to home.

The aggregate value of announced cross-border deals between Asia-Pacific companies has totalled $54bn in the year to date, according to figures from Dealogic, the data provider. This compares to $25.7bn during the corresponding period last year.

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Most U.S. Stocks Gain on Acquisitions; Wrigley, Ford Advance

April 28, 2006
From Bloomberg:
Most U.S. stocks rose for a fourth day after billionaire Warren Buffett financed the $23 billion takeover of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and investor Kirk Kerkorian bought a stake in Ford Motor Co.

Wrigley, the world's biggest maker of chewing gum, jumped the most since at least 1980 after Mars Inc., backed by Buffett, agreed to acquire the company for 28 percent more than its closing price last week. Ford rallied after Kerkorian said he bought 4.7 percent of the second-largest U.S. automaker and plans to buy more. Microsoft Corp. slumped for a second day, helping drag the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average lower, on speculation the world's largest software company will have to increase its bid to acquire Yahoo! Inc.

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Risk arbitrage opportunities in Global Copper and CHC Helicopter and M&A heats up

April 21, 2006
From Financial Post:
Canadian M&A activity has picked up with eight new deals announced since March. However, accessing debt continues to remain a challenge and Industry’s Canada recent rejection of Macdonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd.’s $1.33-billion satellite division sale to Alliant Techsystems Inc. signals the increasing role national security is playing in takeovers.

Wellington West analyst Shawn Chopra said this will ultimately lead to increased spreads in M&A transactions involving foreign companies. “We believe that leveraged buyouts will have wide spreads relative to the pre-credit crisis (pre- August 2007) because access to debt will be difficult,” he told clients in a note.

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Wall Street Beat: M&A news dominates market turmoil

March 21, 2006
From The Washington Post:
Merger and acquisition sagas involving Yahoo, 3Com, and Iomega grabbed the attention of IT investors this week as economic news took tech companies on a turbulent market ride.

Continuing efforts to remain independent or force Microsoft to bid higher, Yahoo Monday revealed a three-month-old financial presentation originally prepared for its board of directors in December. Yahoo said it will double its operating cash flow from US$1.9 billion to $3.7 billion over three years. Shares of Yahoo jumped by $1.81 to close at $27.66 Tuesday.

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Indian M&A: All Talk, Little Action

March 20, 2006
From The Wall Street Journal:
Ultimately, the promise of a widespread mergers and acquisitions binge by Indian companies may be more talk than action.

With the value of companies depressed in both Europe and the U.S., fast-growing Indian companies have been touted as aggressive buyers. To seal the deal, however, will require following the Boy Scout’s motto: Be Prepared.

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Human Capital Key to M&A Success
March 14, 2007
From The Korea Times:
 Two companies merge, hoping for a more powerful business. But too many times what's meant to be a strategic combination ends up in failure because these giant deals are missing a vital link to success, says an M&A director at Hay Group.

"A balance in human capital between the two companies is a must because a cooperative organization powers a business to its target,'' David Derain, who leads the M&A work in the global management consultancy, said in a Korea Times interview Wednesday.
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Morgan Stanley Europe M&A Chairman Zaoui Will Retire (Update3)

March 13, 2007
From Bloomberg:
 Morgan Stanley said Michael Zaoui, chairman of European mergers and acquisitions, is retiring after 21 years at the second-biggest U.S. securities firm.

Zaoui, 51, was based in London since 1990 and led the firm in transactions such as Elf Aquitaine SA's 51-billion euro ($79 billion) takeover by Total Fina SA in 2000. He also advised Lafarge SA on its acquisition of Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries for 8.8 billion euros in December. Spokesman Michael Wang confirmed Zaoui's move without giving details. No replacement has been named.

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Hedge Funds Rebound In February
March 6, 2007
From FINalternatives:
 After a terrible start to the new year, four of the six hedge fund strategies covered by Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes posted positive returns for the month of February.

Merger arbitrage, which so far remains the only strategy with positive gains for the year, and equity long/short were the leaders for the month with net-of-fees gains of 1.95% and 1.49%, respectively.
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BofA/Countrywide Merger Arbitrage Opportunity
March 3, 2007
From Seeking Alpha:
 On January 11th, Bank of America (BAC) announced a definitive agreement to purchase Countrywide Financial (CFC) in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $4 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of Countrywide will receive 0.1822 shares of Bank of America for each share in Countrywide. At the time of announcement, parties expected the deal to be completed in the third quarter of 2008.

This merger agreement followed an investment by Bank of America in Countrywide, announced on August 22nd of last year, in which Bank of America made a $2 billion strategic investment in Countrywide. This was done through a 7.25% non-voting convertible preferred security, with a conversion price of $18 per share. With the merger announcement almost five months later, Countrywide is valued at just over $7 per share.

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Global M&A value slumps 49 pct year-on-year in Feb, private equity down 82 pct
February 29, 2007
From Forbes:
 In February, the total worldwide value of announced mergers and acquisitions dropped 49 pct to about 185.3 bln usd compared to 363,740.2 bln usd in February 2007, according to data from Thomson Financial.

The value of announced private equity deals, at about 16.5 bln usd, was almost 82 pct lower than the February 2007 figure of 89,098.2 bln eur, and only amounted to about 9 pct of total M&A activity.
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South Korea firms in quest for more M&A deals in U.S.
February 29, 2007
From Reuters:
 South Korean companies are hunting for U.S. acquisitions as subprime woes throw up opportunities to move into a market in which they would otherwise have to start from scratch, a senior investment banker said on Friday.

Demand ranges from manufacturers to banks and size from $100 million all the way up to $5 billion, ChunKee Lee, who leads Credit Suisse' South Korean operations, told Reuters in an interview.
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Bankers look to Liberty to show the way for M&A
February 12, 2007
From Financial Times:
 Bankers braced for a slowdown in M&A activity are rushing to sell the virtues in uncertain markets of cash shells and "blank cheque" acquisition companies.

They have been fired up by last week's listing of Liberty International, Europe's second "special purpose acquisition vehicle" (Spac), which raised €600m ($870m) listing on Euronext.
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Microsoft, Yahoo stay in the M&A game
February 12, 2007
From MarketWatch:
 As Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. battle it out over a proposed merger deal, the two tech giants have continued to pursue their own growth strategies through smaller deals.

Faced with the threat of being gobbled up by Microsoft, Yahoo on Tuesday announced a $160 million deal to buy Maven Networks Inc, which helps media companies manage and distribute online video.
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Prudential chief sees M&A chances in market turmoil
January 23, 2007
From Reuters UK:
 The head of Prudential, Britain's second-largest insurer, said the current economic turmoil could provide it with the chance to snap up rivals.

"These types of crises do present opportunities," Prudential Chief Executive Mark Tucker told Reuters on the sidelines of a summit of business leaders and policymakers in the Swiss resort of Davos.
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Stocks rollercoaster another nail in M&A coffin
January 23, 2007
From Guardian Unlimited:
 Roller-coaster stock moves make it hard to price assets and play on the nerves of company executives, which in turn makes it difficult to pull off mergers and acquisitions.

And global stocks have had a volatile week, with a big emergency rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve offsetting heavy share falls on Monday and early Tuesday caused by fears of a U.S. recession.
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Standard & Poor's Launches Family of Arbitrage Indices
January 17, 2007
From CNNMoney.com:
 Standard & Poor's, the world's leading index provider, announced today the launch of a family of indices designed to model common arbitrage strategies in the financial markets. The three indices -- the S&P 500 Volatility Arbitrage Index, the S&P Currency Arbitrage Index and the S&P Long Only Merger Arbitrage Index -- are the first in what will be a series of arbitrage indices launched by Standard & Poor's in 2008.

"The S&P Arbitrage Index family will offer an investable framework for tracking common arbitrage opportunities in the financial markets," says Srikant Dash, Head of Global Research and Design at Standard & Poor's. "These three indices are the first, in what will be, a series of arbitrage indices launched by Standard & Poor's in 2008."
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Study Sparks Regulator Scrutiny of Merger Arbitrage
January 14, 2007
From The New York Times:
 With the rise of proprietary trading desks, investment banks sometimes find themselves taking positions in the stocks of companies they are advising in merger talks. At least a few of those instances are probably coincidental, and the firms will certainly argue that they are.

But an academic study released last month suggests something more troubling: that as investment banks advise companies in takeover situations, they are also investing in the targets of these merger talks. The research, which says the rate of such investments is too high to be merely coincidental, has now interested securities regulators as well, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
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Microsoft M&A Guru to Leave
January 10, 2007
From The New York Times:
 A day after signing a $1.2 billion deal to buy a Norwegian search company, Fast Search and Transfer, Microsoft confirmed that Bruce Jaffe, the firm’s mergers and acquisitions architect, will be leaving the company at the end of February.

Mr. Jaffe, vice president of corporate development at Microsoft, had been charged with overseeing key acquisitions at a time when the company has sought to buy its way further into strategic Internet and advertising markets to compete with its surging rival, Google.
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Private Equity, Overall M&A To Decline Due To Weak Economy, Credit Crunch
January 10, 2007
From CNNMoney.com:
 What the credit crisis couldn't do to the private-equity market -- knock it to the canvas for a 10-count -- a looming recession might.

Most M&A experts predict a continuation of the slowdown that hit during the latter half of 2007, when the credit crunch dried up private-equity funds and all but obliterated what had been the busiest deal-making period ever.
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Goldman Sachs narrowly beats Morgan Stanley as top M&A adviser 2007
January 3, 2007
From CNNMoney.com:
 Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Group Inc's corporate finance team leads the league table of financial M&A advisers as it recorded advisory mandates for deals with a total rank value of more than 1.4 trillion usd last year, according to data released by Thomson (NYSE:TOC) Financial.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) came in second with mandates for announced transactions that have a total rank value of about 1,342 bln usd.
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Wall St M&A fees seen dropping 20 percent in 2008
January 3, 2007
From Reuters:
 Wall Street's fees for brokering mergers and acquisitions are likely to drop about 20 percent this year, reflecting a weaker economy and the difficulty of financing for leveraged buyouts, Sanford Bernstein analyst Brad Hintz said on Thursday.

"Merger and acquisition activity has historically been correlated with favorable economic conditions," Hintz said in a research report. The most recent boom in M&A also was driven by several years of cheap and easy debt, which allowed leveraged buyout firms to pursue deals of an unprecedented scale.
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Capital gains tax change drives small-business M&A surge
December 27, 2007
From Scotsman.com:
 A SOARING rate of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has developed among smaller businesses across Scotland in recent weeks as firms look to sell up before a change in capital gains tax (CGT) laws comes into force.

The Edinburgh-headquartered corporate law firm Lindsays said M&A activity in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, in particular, was running at twice the norm.
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India Inc's M&A deals touch $50 bn mark
December 27, 2007
From The Times of India:
 Mergers and acquisitions are set to become the order of the day for India Inc, with total deals crossing the $50 billion dollar mark. Grant Thornton, a global consulting firm, in its annual publication of corporate deals has reported that the total value of outbound acquisitions was $32 billion as against inbound acquisitions worth $15 billion and foreign direct investment (FDI) of about $ 16 billion (estimate).

The top three mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals have contributed to about 56% of the M&A deal value. Hence, to maintain the momentum and for the deal values to grow further going forward, such large deals (such as Tata-Corus, Hindalco-Novelis) are necessary, the report notes.

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The year in M&A
December 17, 2007
From InvestorDaily:
 Many within Australia's financial services industry will associate 2007 with the battle for talent.

Yet as companies scrambled to offer incentives to retain staff, another tussle was brewing on the mergers and acquisitions front.
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Tech cos. seen going M&A route, not IPO, in 2008
December 16, 2007
From Reuters:
 Investors fearful of a recession and corporations bullish on acquisitions are likely to push more venture capital-backed technology companies into selling themselves rather than going public next year.

U.S. initial public offerings of technology companies have been on the upswing since 2004, although nowhere near the peak of the dot-com boom. But many bankers and analysts said tech IPOs are slowing down again because markets remain unpredictable in the wake of the subprime meltdown.
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DEALTALK-Asia hungry for resources M&A, but few targets
December 12, 2006
From Reuters UK:
 Asian resources firms are rich, hungry and ready to take a record share of global merger and acquisition deals in 2008, but they're struggling to find suitable assets available at a reasonable price.

With roaring regional demand pumping up commodity prices, Asian firms have a strong motive for buying up energy and metals suppliers. But besides Australia and Indonesia, the region has limited natural resources, forcing buyers to scour the globe.

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M&A fees ‘could fall by one third next year’
December 10, 2006
From FinancialNews-US.com:
 The global head of mergers and acquisitions at Swiss bank UBS has warned fees from mergers and acquisitions could fall substantially next year in the world’s largest investment banking markets as he cautioned 2008 is unlikely to stage a repeat of this year’s record haul.

The global fee pool for M&A advisory work is likely to shrink by a third as European and US deal volumes are expected to return to more normal levels after this year’s boom, according to Piero Novelli, UBS’s global head of M&A.

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M&A value tumbles despite increased deals
December 4, 2006
From Reuters UK:
 The value of takeovers of domestic firms fell by almost two thirds to 21.3 billion pounds in July through September, data showed on Tuesday, as the global credit crunch cuts appetite for debt-financed deals.

The Office for National Statistics said the value of UK companies being taken over by foreign firms fell by 73 percent to 14 billion pounds in the quarter from the previous three months, while acquisitions by UK firms dropped by 23 percent to 7.3 billion.

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UPDATE: Airlines Execs To Address Investors; M&A, Sales To Come Up
December 3, 2006
From CNNMoney.com:
 Don't be surprised to hear more M&A chatter from the airline sector on Tuesday.

For the first time in about a month, a lineup of senior executives at the nation's largest airlines will speak to investors, this time at a Calyon Securities conference in New York City.

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Endemol CEO says group has cash for M&A drive
November 27, 2006
From Reuters UK:
 The head of Dutch-based television production company Endemol said the group's owners had given it the cash for acquisitions in new markets to help it try and double underlying earnings within five years.

"M&A is in our genes," Endemol Group Chief Executive and Chairman Aat Schouwenaar told a European media leaders summit in London, without giving figures on how much money the newly structured group had lined up for deals.

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German M&A market seen down 20 pct in 2008 -Dresdner
November 27, 2006
From Reuters:
 Merger volumes are likely to drop by at least one-fifth next year in Germany as companies struggle to digest subprime-related credit problems and a feast of big deals done this year, Dresdner Kleinwort said on Tuesday.

The investment banking unit of Europe's biggest insurer, Allianz (ALVG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), predicted a stable or slightly higher number of transactions in 2008 but not as many deals over $10 billion.

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Volume of Europe's M&A Deals In Bank Sector More Than Doubles
November 21, 2006
From The Wall Street Journal:
 European cross-border banking mergers-and-acquisitions volumes have reached $124.5 billion so far this year, more than double last year's total, as Crédit Agricole on Monday spent €809 million ($1.19 billion) on a 15% stake in Spain's Bankinter SA.

So far, 105 European cross-border banking mergers have been completed, compared with 131 mergers valued at $50.2 billion during all of last year, according to figures from data provider Thomson Financial.

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Lazard's Michael Biondi, Veteran M&A Adviser, Dies (Update2)
November 13, 2006
From Bloomberg:
 Michael Biondi, a veteran corporate takeover adviser who most recently served as Lazard Ltd.'s co- chairman of investment banking, died last night. He was 50.

Biondi died at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, according to a memo distributed to Lazard employees today by Bruce Wasserstein, the firm's chairman and chief executive officer.

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M&A Outlook 2008: The Year in Review
November 7, 2006
From Dealscape:
 At Wednesday morning's M&A Outlook 2008 conference, Thomas Burnett, the director of research at Wall St. Access, used data compiled by The Deal and Wall St. Access to give the audience an overview of what has been a remarkable year for M&A activity.

Burnett began by reminding the audience that "merger activity is inherently cyclical." After M&A activity picked up in the 1990s, it peaked with the tech bubble between 2000 and 2001, after which merger activity declined dramatically. 

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Dell in the M&A Fast Lane
November 6, 2006
From The Motley Fool:
 So far this year, Wall Street has gone gaga for storage IPOs, as seen with highfliers such as Compellent Technologies (NYSE: CML) and Data Domain (Nasdaq: DDUP). But Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) is also paying attention, and yesterday, the computer maker announced its $1.4 billion agreement to buy EqualLogic, a storage provider that was prepping for a public offering.

EqualLogic's solutions are based on so-called iSCSI technologies, which use Internet approaches. Their key benefits include lower costs and ease of use, making it possible to effectively sell to the midmarket.

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Australian shares close at record highs on M&A activity - UPDATE
October 29, 2006
From CNNMoney.com:
 Australian shares closed at record highs on Monday as news of London-listed Xstrata Plc's bid for nickel miner Jubilee Mines spurred hopes of consolidation in the mining sector.

'Merger and acquisition activity was the main news driving the market,' said CommSec chief economist Craig James.

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United States: When M&A And National Security Don’t Mix
October 24, 2006
From Mondaq:
 An act recently passed in Congress, intended to tighten controls on foreign capital inflows, could derail your best-laid deals.

The Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 (FINSA) will soon tighten the screws on foreign capital flowing into the United States. Foreign investors and their U.S. partners must be prepared to face new risks and uncertainties, including deal delays and political interference, starting on Oct. 24, when FINSA goes into effect.

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Fantasy M&A is back
October 23, 2006
From FT Alphaville:
 And it’s more tortuous than ever. We first noticed the trend towards the end of last year - a tendency for research analysts to play at being corporate financiers, making up stories as to who might bid for what, when, why and how.

The game became serious when even some of the more outlandish M&A ideas started to come true - but waned over the summer, of course, when the LBO boom got crunched.

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Buyers to ‘benefit’ from M&A market
October 20, 2006
From icWales:
 THE mergers and acquisitions market in Wales remains buoyant – despite the crisis that hit the money markets last month, an analyst said yesterday.

A study by accountants and business advisers PKF in association with Deal Drivers UK showed a slowing outside Wales after a ramping up of deals in the last quarter.

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Emerging Market M&A Hits $663 Billion In '07,Beats '06 Record Dealogic
October 16, 2006
From CNNMoney.com:
 Mergers and acquisitions in emerging market countries have reached $662.9 billion so far in 2007, topping the previous record high of $643.3 billion for all of 2006, according to data provider Dealogic.

In the third quarter of 2007, emerging market M&A bucked the global trend with an increase of 7% compared with the second quarter of 2007, and versus a 45% decline for developed countries, it said.

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How to Make Money from Merger Arbitrage
October 16, 2006
From American Chronicle:
 When a public company is acquired there is a potential to make money on the difference between the offered price and the current market price. If the company trades for $10/share and a suitor offers its shareholders $15/share, obviously someone is going to make money on the difference.

The basic risks involved are:

Whether the takeover will be completed as planned or delayed or even canceled

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M&A's Revival, SABMiller vs Busch, U.S.'s China Plays: Timshel

October 10, 2006
From Bloomberg:
 There's a revival under way in billion-dollar takeover offers, and the latest batch of deals shows how this year's credit crunch changed the landscape for mergers and acquisitions.

Six proposals announced yesterday exceeded the $1 billion mark -- matching the highest total for a single day since July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sonepar SA's bid for Hagemeyer NV, the world's third-largest supplier of electrical equipment, led the pack at the equivalent of $3.5 billion.

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Market report: Equities buoyed up by rising tide of M&A deals
October 10, 2006
From Telegraph.co.uk:
 After last week’s glut of mid-market takeovers, the increasing pace of M&A deals drove shares higher after Southern Water was snapped up by a JP Morgan-led consortium for a punchy £4.19bn and Italian oil and gas giant Eni emerged as a surprise suitor for Burren Energy.

Shares in the water companies were boosted after the Royal Bank of Scotland managed to offload Southern Water for more than the £4bn most analysts had presumed was the upper limit in the auction.

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Japan Begins to Embrace M&A as a Path to Growth
October 3, 2006
From The Wall Street Journal Online:
 Restructuring and the need to tap high-growth overseas markets as the domestic population declines should drive Japanese companies to embrace more mergers and acquisitions over the coming years, Japanese bankers say.

"Consolidation seems to be the main trend driving M&A activity within Japan between corporations, especially in mature industries, including retail, electronics and financial services," says Tadashi Sato, director of investment banking at Nikko Citigroup in Tokyo.

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Trading the Odds with Arbitrage
September 28, 2006
From International Business Times:
 "I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought." Many of you might recognize these words spoken by Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street. In the movie, Gekko makes a fortune as a pioneer of arbitrage . Unfortunately, such risk-free trading is not available to everyone; however, there are several other forms of arbitrage that can be used to enhance the odds of executing a successful trade. Here we look at the concept of arbitrage, how market makers utilize "true arbitrage," and, finally, how retail investors can take advantage of arbitrage opportunities.

Concepts of Arbitrage
Arbitrage, in its purest form, is defined as the purchase of securities on one market for immediate resale on another market in order to profit from a price discrepancy. This results in immediate risk-free profit.

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Six weeks doth not an M&A trend make
September 24, 2006
From FT Alphaville:
 So say the prophets at UBS. So don’t panic.

European M&A may have dried up sharpish in late-July and showed few signs of a sustained come-back since. But the Swiss bank’s analysts believe that all is not lost. It’s not exactly ‘dealmania’, but they say don’t write off good old-fashioned deals between companies just yet.

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Canadian M&A rockets 81%
September 24, 2006
From FinancialNews-US.com:
 Canadian mergers and acquisitions surpassed last year's record by 81% on mining and energy pacts, as this morning's activity hit more than $8bn (€5.67bn).

Abu Dhabi National Energy announced today it will buy Canada’s PrimeWest Energy Trust for $5bn, while Canada’s Yamana Gold ended a long-running drama over its three-way hostile deal for Meridian Gold by snapping up the rival gold miner for $3.56bn while folding in its previous acquisition of Northern Orion Resources, valued at just over $1bn.

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High hopes for Global, MidMarket M&A
September 18, 2006
From Reuters:
 While large-cap private equity firms are licking their wounds, a brighter picture has emerged from another section of the M&A community: the midmarket.

Indeed, private equity executives and bankers–large and small–say the midmarket is where it’s at these days. So does Grant Thorton, which says in a recent survey that 75 percent of mid-market companies expect to engage in international M&A at least once in the next 12 months.

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Bear Stearns Introduces The Bear Stearns Risk Arbitrage Cash Deal Index—A New Way to Participate in Risk Arbitrage
September 12, 2006
From BusinessWire:
 Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. today announced that it recently launched The Bear Stearns Risk Arbitrage Cash Deal Index (Bloomberg: BSEICASH <Index>)—a new way to gain exposure to risk arbitrage deals in the US. The index, created by the Bear Stearns Equity Linked Strategy Team, is composed primarily of the largest US companies by market capitalization that are the targets of definitive, pending all-cash acquisitions.

“This index is for investors who would like to use risk arbitrage strategies in their portfolios,” said Justin Lubell, trading strategist on the Equity Linked Strategy team. “Investors can use the index to gain broad-based, directional exposure to a portfolio of companies that are the targets of definitive deals.”

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Global M&A: 'The hunted are fast becoming the hunters'
September 12, 2006
From The Hindu:
 Companies from BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are fast closing the gap on their counterparts in developed nations in terms of cross-border acquisitions, according to KPMG’s ‘Emerging Markets International Acquisitions Tracker’.

Though the number of deals involving a developed economy buying into an emerging economy is still much larger than that of emerging-into-developed, the divide is narrowing fast.

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Merrill Lynch SA unit appoints head of M&A practice
September 12, 2006
From Reuters Africa:
 Merrill Lynch's South African unit said on Wednesday it has appointed Stephan du Plessis as head of its merger and acquisition (M&A) practice and local coverage.

Du Plessis will have responsibility for mining in the country and sub-Saharan Africa, the firm said.

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Fast Retailing to invest up to $3.5 bln in M&A
September 4, 2006
From Reuters:
 Japanese casual wear retailer Fast Retailing Co Ltd (9983.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said it still plans to invest up to 400 billion yen ($3.5 billion) on acquisitions, one month after it lost a bidding war for upscale retailer Barneys New York.

Fast Retailing, whose Uniqlo brand has often been called the Gap Inc (GPS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) of Japan, has been expanding overseas and has pledged to use acquisitions to help double its annual sales to 1 trillion yen by 2010.

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Merger Arbitrage on the Sirius/XMSR Deal
September 4, 2006
From SeekingAlpha:
 Merger arbitrage is an investment strategy often used by hedge funds. There are many ways to play a merger, but the arbitrage is basically the delta between the deal as announced and the current spread between the merging parties.

With Sirius and XM, it is an all stock deal. The terms are 4.6 shares of Sirius for each share of XM. Some Arbitrage players use a strategy where they short the buyer (Sirius) and go long the company being acquired (XMSR). Effectively, a person doing this is setting the spread. Once the deal is complete, they can use the shares they received from the ratio to settle their short position, and the spread between the two is profit.

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The Real Deal: The best risk arbitrage trading strategy is guts
August 28, 2006
From FT Alphaville:
 Forget kurtosis, leptokurtosis and platykurtosis. The best risk arbitrage trading strategy to use during this credit crunch is guts.For the first time in years, merger arbs have a chance of making money.

Before the market turmoil, it wasn’t worth placing a bet on a leveraged buy-out. Spreads were so tight that returns weren’t much better than banking the money.

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M&A overdrive hits speed-breaker from headlines to boardrooms
August 27, 2006
From The Economic Times:
 Mergers and acquisitions seem to be the flavour of the season in India this year with reports of more than two potential deals hitting headlines every day, but over 80 per cent of these do not actually fructify.

According to a study by international M&A deals tracking firm 'mergermarket', India has emerged as Asia-Pacific's second-biggest target after China in terms of official or unofficial intentions expressed for takeover deals from across the world this year.

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India's M&A drive slows amid credit squeeze fears
August 21, 2006
From Reuters:
 After a spate of big M&A deals, corporate India's drive for foreign acquisitions has ebbed amid concerns about a global credit squeeze, though firms with strong balance sheets may look for bargains as valuations come down.

Indian firms are still negotiating deals and raising funds for acquisitions, but the size of deals has fallen after Tata Steel's (TISC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) $12.9 billion acquisition of Corus and Hindalco's (HALC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) $6 billion purchase of Canada's Novelis.

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Increased deal risk scares away the arbs
August 17, 2006
From BloggingStocks:
 Inside of investing there is a culture known as 'arbitrageurs.' While there's many different types of arbitrage, merger arbitrage has become an increasingly-used strategy amongst traders and investors during the last few years. The primary reason: the private equity boom.

Merger arbitrageurs try to purchase stocks after a buyout has been announced but before it has been completed. For example, if a stock is being taken out for $22 per share and is currently trading for $20 per share, the 'arbs' might buy the stock betting that the deal is completed and they can keep their 10% assumed rate of return. Understandably, the increased private equity activity during the last few years has helped to fuel a boom in this strategy.

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Column: Cheaper stock valuation could trigger new wave of M&A, and hopefully revive Wall Street
August 10, 2006
From The International Herald Tribune:
 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 (€0.92 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.

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Credit storm winners and losers
August 8, 2006
From The Globe and Mail:
 The topsy-turvy upheaval in credit markets and drying up of blockbuster leveraged buyouts and takeovers could have a 2 to 5 per cent annualized impact on brokerage profits, with Merrill Lynch & Co. suffering the smallest hit, and Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. the largest, writes Citi analyst Prashant Bhatia.

He figures the total leveraged loan and bond pipeline to be roughly $330-billion (U.S.), with brokers’ exposure at about $75-billion. However, the current pipeline may shrink as certain buyouts are cancelled.
Citi’s risk arbitrage group contends that average M&A arbitrage spreads have historically been in the 8 to 12 per cent range and are currently averaging 2 to 3 times higher.

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Business comment: Hedge funds are the new kingmakers of M&A
August 4, 2006
From Telegraph.co.uk:
 The small Dutch town of Utrecht tomorrow afternoon takes centre stage in the world's biggest-ever deal in the financial-services sector. Over the past few months, a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland has been squaring up against Barclays in the battle to win ABN Amro, the Dutch Bank.

Tomorrow, shareholders in Fortis, the Belgian-Dutch bank which is part of the RBS consortium, vote on whether to approve its £8.7bn rights issue which it needs to help finance its share of the ABN takeover. The vote could determine the outcome of the multi-billion pound bid battle for ABN.

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Six Attractive Risk Arbitrage Situations
July 30, 2006
From SeekingAlpha:
 On the heels of the difficulty banks are having placing the debt being used to fund M&A activity, and the apparent start of a buyout dry-up, currently announced but not yet completed deals have seen spreads (the discrepancy between the purchase price of the company and the market value of the stock) widen.

With some 20+ such deals right now, I think there’s a great opportunity for investors to grab shares in a few of the most attractive spreads, some of which should annualize over 30%.

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Can gutsy India Inc make M&As work?
July 26, 2006
From The Economic Times:
 Research on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has been decidedly gloomy in the recent past, with every other report concluding that most of them don’t work and end up destroying value. Not that the academic insights have had any perceptible effect on the global M&A juggernaut, which moves on with happy momentum, especially in India. But still, it’s nice to have a research report that’s actually gung-ho on M&A, even if it does come from a consulting firm that’s actually in the business of making M&A work.

AT Kearney and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania have been analysing the trends and they’ve come to the conclusion that M&A is now a core part of India Inc’s growth strategy. Using financial data from 10,000 companies over a three year period, they show that 72% of India Inc’s value growers — those who have grown both in terms of revenue and shareholder value — have employed an M&A-led strategy (see graphic: M&A Led Growth Is Favoured By Value Growers).

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Credit freeze may help corporate buyers: M&A chief
July 26, 2006
From Reuters:
 The tougher credit conditions and higher borrowing costs currently roiling markets are expected to scuttle some planned leveraged buyouts (LBOs) as private equity dealmakers find it harder to make the numbers work.

But the ongoing credit squeeze could actually be an opportunity for some corporate buyers to come back to the fore, according to Rob Engel, head of mergers and acquisitions at Wachovia Securities.

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Dow Jones: A Lesson in Arbitrage
July 20, 2006
From Kiplinger.com:
 You don't have to read The Wall Street Journal to learn about merger arbitrage. Just take a look at the stock of its parent company, Dow Jones, and the $5 billion bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation to buy it.

In merger arbitrage, investors buy stock in takeover targets after the deals have been publicly announced. If that sounds like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped, you need to better understand how merger arbitrage works. Typically, the target's shares will sell at a discount to the transaction price. That discount is based on the time value of money and the risk that deal will fall apart or be renegotiated. Reasons for failure range from regulatory denials to financing problems to breakdowns in negotiating terms.

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Merger arbitrage is getting scary
July 13, 2006
From AOL Money & Finance:
 When a new investor first studies merger arbitrage, the concept seems incredible -- the ability to make almost guaranteed profits, especially because it seems that deals are pulled or rejected ever so rarely. But as this new investor begins following the market more, he quickly learns that deals are in fact pulled. Recently, we saw the firms interested in purchasing SLM Corp. (Sallie Mae) (NYSE: SLM) pull their deal. As you can see from the chart on the right, this killed the arbs involved in the deal.

I don't think this is going to be the last time that a potential private equity deal is pulled, much to the disappointment of arbs. As I've been covering on BloggingBuyouts, I think the credit situation in the United States is quickly turning sour. Many professionals in the fixed income space who I talk to constantly talk about not being paid enough interest to justify the risks that they are taking. As a result, I believe private equity firms are going to have much more trouble in borrowing the money they need to continue their leveraged buyouts. I think arbs are going to face more pain in the future.

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Buoyant market fuels domestic M&A boom
July 18, 2006
From Shanghai Daily:
 CHINA's buoyant equity markets are fueling a domestic merger and acquisition boom, while higher valuations and regulatory hurdles slow foreign deals, an industry report said yesterday.

Domestic transaction volumes are increasing rapidly as funds raised on rising equity markets are put to use to consolidate fragmented industries, often in government-initiated restructurings, said PricewaterhouseCoopers in a report.

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KPMG says M&A peak near
July 16, 2006
From Reuters UK:
 Worldwide M&A deal volume is set to fall after a final hurrah of fewer but larger transactions, KPMG's corporate finance team said on Monday.

The firm's analysis found that 12-month forward price earnings valuations rose marginally to 17.1 times compared to 16.8 times in both June and December 2006, which KPMG said implied growing restraints on how much of a premium buyers are able to pay.

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Japan braces for invasion of corporate predators
July 6, 2006
From FinancialNews-US.com:
 The number of foreign predators targeting the Japanese market is likely to rise this year after the government relaxed takeover regulations last month.

This is the first wave of a planned overhaul of the capital markets to make them more attractive to outside investment, say bankers.

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M&A Market Strong But Debt Concerns May Curtail Activity
July 5, 2006
From CNNMoney.com:
 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.

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M&A Deals Surge Through May in 2007
June 27, 2006
From The Houston Chronicle:
 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.

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Protectionist law hinders M&A growth
June 27, 2006
From Financial Times:
 Protectionist legislation and management culture are the most serious obstacles to continuing growth in mergers and acquisitions activity in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

More than 80 per cent of senior executives of major companies in the region cited “domestic legislation that stifles foreign ownership” and widely different management cultures across Asia as the issues most likely to derail their cross-border acquisition plans during the next 12 months.

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Another record for M&A, no slowdown seen -Thomson
June 22, 2006
From Reuters UK:
 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.

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Jefferies Group expands M&A advisory role
June 21, 2006
From MarketWatch:
 Jefferies Group Inc. said Thursday that it had acquired the Putnam Lovell investment-banking business from Canada's National Bank Financial Group, reflecting Jefferies' ongoing moves to expand its merger and acquisition advisory business.

Putnam Lovell is focused on the asset-management industry, which is seeing a wave of consolidation as mutual-fund companies and financial-advisory firms compete globally for investors and market share. This is the fifth industry-specific M&A group that Jefferies has acquired in less than five years, the New York-based investment banking and brokerage firm said.

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Harris Williams says lenders are key to M&A boom
June 12, 2006
From Reuters UK:
 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.

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

June 12, 2006
From 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.

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ITT shares rise despite M&A slowdown
May 31, 2006
From The Kansas City Star:
 ITT Corp. has given investors plenty to be happy about so far in 2007, including expectation-topping financial results and a stock rise of almost 17 percent. But the strong performance hasn't silenced debate over another element of the company: Its acquisition strategy.

ITT, a defense contractor and industrial conglomerate based in White Plains, N.Y., has traditionally been an active dealmaker, but its pace has slowed dramatically even as its cash position has ballooned. It hasn't made any significant acquisitions this year, and it did only about a half dozen small deals last year, the most recent in June 2006.

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Madrid shares near highs midday on M&A fever; energy issues in demand
May 31, 2006
From Forbes:
 Shares prices were higher and near session highs in moderate midday trade as M&A speculation fuelled gains in Union Fenosa and Iberdrola, with NH Hoteles and Jazztel also benefiting from takeover hopes, dealers said.

At 12.30 pm, the IBEX-35 index was up 153.6 points or 1.01 pct to 15,290.9, after trading in a range of 15,243-15,294, on turnover of 2.350 bln eur.

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An M&A Handicapper Views Crowded Field
May 25, 2006
From Barron's Online:
 MERGER-AND-ACQUISITION DEALS ARE flowing at a record pace for 2007. And hedge-fund manager Nancy Havens-Hasty is sitting pretty.

As an investor who specializes in M&A arbitrage, she needs deals to make money.

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Novelli brings global M&A role to London
May 25, 2006
From FinancialNews-US.com:
 UBS has handed Piero Novelli, who is based in London, sole responsibility for its global mergers and acquisitions business, making it the second investment bank in two days to move a global division to London.

Novelli, who was previously co-head, was given the role following the departure of the other co-head, Jeff Raich.

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Net's the engine powering the new M&A rush
May 7, 2006
From The Economic Times:
 News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch has a $5-billion crush on the owner of The Wall Street Journal, Thomson is eyeing Reuters and Microsoft apparently is flirting again with internet icon Yahoo.

The media mating dance that broke out last week is part of a mad scramble not to just provide the content, but to find the right mix of technology and business savvy to remain relevant and profitable amid the upheaval wrought by the rise of the web. “Media companies are trying to adapt quickly and they are looking for some help,” said Ryan Jacob, a money manager who runs fund specialising in internet stocks.

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Stocks rise as M&A activity stays strong
May 7, 2006
From Financial Post:
 Stocks rose on Monday after another round of international takeover action, which helped put the main indexes on the path for a fifth straight day of gains.

Extending the merger-and-acquisition activity, U.S. blue-chip Alcoa Inc. , the world's largest aluminum company, on Monday announced plans to launch a $27 billion hostile offer for Canada's Alcan Inc. , the No. 2 in the market.

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Top M&A deals in banking and beyond
April 23, 2006
From Reuters UK:
 Britain's Barclays Plc (BARC.L: Quote, Profile , Research) has agreed to buy ABN AMRO (AAH.AS: Quote, Profile , Research) in a deal worth about $91 billion. If successful, the deal would be the largest bank acquisition to date.

The following is a list of the top ten bank M&A deals:

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M&A talk helps European stocks climb to six-year high
April 21, 2006
From The Times of Malta:
 European stocks closed higher yesterday as bid talks and an upbeat US session helped the FTSEurofirst 300 index to end at its highest level in over six years.

The index closed 1.3 per cent higher at 1,580.02. Britain's was up 0.7 per cent, France's CAC 40 rose 1.9 per cent and Germany's DAX was 1.4 per cent higher.

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M&A helps European shares to 6-week closing high
April 10, 2006
From Reuters UK:
 European shares closed on Tuesday at their highest level since before they were hit by a global stock market sell-off, as M&A activity helped stocks to rally for a fifth day running.

Rodamco Europe (RDMB.AS: Quote, Profile , Research) was the biggest gainer of the index, with gains of 8.7 percent, after agreeing to a merger with France's Unibail (UNBP.PA: Quote, Profile , Research). Unibail shares closed 4.8 percent lower.

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U.K. Banks May be Ready for Mergers and Takeovers
April 10, 2006
From BankNet360:
 Analysts believe U.K. banks are primed for mergers and acquisitions.

The possible acquisition of ABN AMRO Holding N.V. [ticker: ABN] by Barclays Plc [ticker: BCS] could set off a wave of M&A activity in the United Kingdom — and European continent players could be interested, as well.

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Booming M&A helps to lift JPMorgan Cazenove
March 2, 2006
From FT Alphaville:
 Profits at JPMorgan Cazenove jumped 45 per cent last year as the investment banking joint venture reaped the benefits of booming activity in M&A as well as the equity and debt markets. In the second year of its existence the business, created through the merger of Cazenove with the UK investment banking arm of JPMorgan, reported operating profits of £184.5m, up from £127.5m last year. Although the business has benefited from a buoyant market, Robert Pickering, chief executive, said the results also reflected the effects of combining Cazenove’s corporate client base in the UK with JPMorgan’s international network, broader range of products, and international reach.

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Deutsche Bank revamps M&A
March 1, 2006
From MSNBC:
 Deutsche Bank yesterday said it had promoted Tony Burgess, head of European M&A, to co-head of global M&A alongside James Stynes.

The global co-head roles are new within the investment bank, underscoring its strategy of integrating its European and American service as clients' businesses are becoming more global. Last year, it made management of its capital markets business global.

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M&A boom powers Lazard to a new peak
February 7, 2006
From Times Online:
 Annual profits at Lazard leapt 37 per cent to $236 million (£120 million) as the investment bank basked in last year's merger boom and posted record full-year operating revenues amid continued strength at its asset management arm.

Today's figures, for the 12 months to the end of December, mark Lazard's first full calendar year of numbers since becoming a listed company in May 2005 and will provide a useful benchmark for future comparison.

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M&A Activity Speeds Up In '07 As Buyout Firms Still Lead Way
February 6, 2006
From Investors.com:
 Not since the dot-com peak has a year kicked off with so much merger and acquisition activity.

As of Feb. 5 there were 3,085 deals worldwide, with a total value of $332.7 billion. That's up 32% from a year ago, according to Thomson Financial.

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Citigroup focuses on Asian cross-border M&A
January 25, 2006
From Reuters:
 Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile , Research), Asia's fourth-biggest M&A adviser last year, is counting on cross-border deals to drive its business as national champions in China and India look abroad and private equity firms stalk the region.

Chief executives are increasingly looking beyond their borders to find growth, driving activity to record levels, and the trend is set to continue, Gordon Paterson, the bank's Asia Pacific head of M&A, said in an interview.

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MMAA launches M&A awards
January 25, 2006
From The Edge Daily:
 The Malaysian Mergers and Acquisitions Association (MMAA) has launched “The National Merger and Acquisition Awards 2007” to honour accomplishments of companies and individuals who have successfully deployed mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to enhance shareholder value.

In a statement on Jan 25, MMAA said the awards kicked off on Jan 12 with a call for nominations of companies and individuals who had made exceptional contributions or accomplishments in M&A activities last year. 

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European M&A soars, fueling record 2006 activity
January 18, 2006
From MarketWatch:
 Europe's mergers-and-acquisitions market rebounded strongly in the fourth quarter on a fresh wave of energy and financial services deals, making 2006 the biggest year for corporate takeovers.

The red-hot market was fueled by a near tripling in the value of hostile takeovers, record private-equity buyout activity and broad corporate consolidation. Emerging markets - like Russia and the United Arab Emirates - also muscled in on what historically has been a the preserve of European and U.S. players. 

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India emerges fourth-biggest M&A target
January 18, 2006
From The Financial Express:
 While domestic corporate giants such as Tatas, Ambani and Ranbaxy are continuously looking abroad for mergers and acquisitions, India has emerged as the fourth-biggest target in the Asia-Pacific IT space with deals worth over 3.5 billion dollars in 2006.

Total merger and acquisition activities in Asia-Pacific technology sector totalled 35.1 billion dollars in 2006. Indian companies were target in deals worth 10 per cent of the total value, data compiled by global financial information provider Dealogic shows.

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Lufthansa says no mandate to Goldman for M&A
January 8, 2006
From Reuters:
 German airline Deutsche Lufthansa (LHAG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it had not given Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) a mandate for any merger or acquisition deal.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday it had temporarily suspended its investment rating and price target for Lufthansa in compliance with its "policy in circumstances when Goldman Sachs is acting in an advisory capacity in a merger or strategic transaction and in certain other circumstances".

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Credit Suisse Names Head of European M&A
January 8, 2006
From The New York Times:
 A few months after announcing his resignation as HSBC’s European head of investment banking, David Livingstone has resurfaced as Credit Suisse’s head of mergers and acquisitions in Europe. Mr. Livingstone started his new position in Credit Suisse’s London office on Monday, the firm said. Susan Kilsby, who had been Credit Suisse’s head of European M&A since 2002, was named chairman of European M&A at the investment bank, Credit Suisse said Monday.

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Freshfields pips Linklaters in UK M&A
December 22, 2006
From Times Online:
 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has overtaken Linklaters, its arch rival, to take first place this year in the UK mergers and acquisitions league tables.

Freshfields, which finished second to Linklaters last year, advised on 102 deals worth a combined £103 billion to take the top spot, according to preliminary data from Mergermarket.

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TAKE-A-LOOK-Record year for M&A
December 22, 2006
From Reuters:
 Mergers and acquisitions have hit a record $3.7 trillion worldwide this year so far, topping the previous high in 2000 of $3.4 trillion, according to the latest figures from Thomson Financial.

M&A deals in Europe have reached $1.67 trillion in the year to date, topping the previous record of $1.2 trillion in 1999, according to Thomson.

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Global M&A Trend Not Slowing Down in '07
December 1, 2006
From BankNet360:
 The glutton of mergers and acquisitions is set to continue in the corporate world after ringing in the New Year.

Piero Novelli, co-head of global M&A at the Swedish bank UBS AG, said the optimal conditions that spurred a surge of this year’s M&A activity will continue into 2007. Low interest rates that make it easy to raise funds for cash acquisitions, high stock prices that allow companies to use their own shares to pay for deals, and strong corporate balance sheets at companies looking to grow amount to growth in corporate mergers and acquisitions.

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India's outbond M&A deals hit US$20 bln milestone
December 1, 2006
From Antara News:
 Corporate India has put together a whopping US$20 billion so far this year to fund its merger and acquisition bills abroad, surpassing all previous full year totals.

Indian companies have announced as many as 147 deals since the beginning of this year, almost three times total outbound M&A deals in all of 2005.

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European Stocks Climb on Merger Outlook; ITV and EADS Advance

November 13, 2006
From Bloomberg:
 European stocks posted the first advance in four days on speculation mergers and acquisitions will help revive a rally that sent markets to the highest since January 2001 this month.

ITV Plc, the U.K.'s largest commercial broadcaster, rose as the Financial Times reported NTL Inc. will offer $9.6 billion for the company. European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. climbed on expectations Dubai International Capital LLC may buy a stake.

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Tm Bioscience rises on possible sale or merger
November 13, 2006
From Globe and Mail:
 Shares in Tm Bioscience Corp. rose early Monday after the genetic testing firm said it is exploring “strategic alternatives” to enhance shareholder value, including a possible sale or merger.

On the Toronto stock market, Tm Bioscience shares were up three cents, or 4.5 per cent, at 70 cents.

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America's Corporate Bond Sales Surpass Record on M&A, Low Rates
November 3, 2006
From Bloomberg:
 America's corporate bond sales hit a record $677 billion, with some of the biggest offerings still scheduled for the final two months of the year.

Cheniere Energy Inc.'s sale this week of $2.15 billion of notes pushed the total for the year above the $675.7 billion companies raised in 2001, the previous record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. HCA Inc., Freescale Semiconductor Inc. and more than a dozen others plan at least $80 billion of offerings before the end of December, according to Banc of America Securities LLC.

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CEOs more confident in Q4, see more M&A -survey
November 2, 2006
From 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.

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M&A hedge funds seen to hold sparkle into 2007
October 26, 2006
From Reuters:
 Hedge funds that trade on opportunities from corporate takeovers are likely to perform strongly into 2007 as takeover activity surges, industry executives said.

Merger and acquisition arbitrage funds are seen as likely to be among the hottest hedge fund performers, led by players that spot a bid target months before a public announcement.

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M&A activity
October 26, 2006
From Financial Times:
 Mergers and acquisitions may be booming but do investors share companies’ enthusiasm for deals? Not really. But research by JPMorgan suggests that European investors are more readily convinced of the merits of deal-making than US shareholders.

According to the analysis, the impact of $5bn-plus deals since January 2005 on the share price of European bidders is broadly neutral in the short term, but more positive in the medium term. US bidders, however, underperform in the short and medium term relative to the broader market.

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Helping China's Companies Master Global M&A
September 14, 2006
From Forbes:
 While multinational corporations continue to expand in China, Chinese companies are going overseas: They are making acquisitions and forming alliances to win access to raw materials, technology and consumer brands, as well as new markets that could help them realize their growth aspirations.

So far, the quest to acquire foreign mining, oil and gas assets has dominated the buying spree. Chinese companies have picked up a wide range of assets, though often at sizable premiums, and run them successfully, particularly in emerging markets.

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London shares close lower, weaker Wall St offsets M&A hopes at AWG, Laing UPDATE
September 14, 2006
From Life Style Extra:
 London shares closed lower as M&A hopes surrounding AWG and John Laing were offset by a weaker Wall Street which saw investors unsettled after a surprise rise in import prices, dealers said.

By the close, the FTSE 100 ended 15.0 points lower at 5,877.2, surrendering all of today's earlier gains, which saw the index peak at 5,943.7. Elsewhere, the FTSE 250 ended 57.9 points higher at 9,727.10, while the broader indices ended higher.

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In full boom
August 21, 2006
From TheLawyer.com:
 Thanks to the M&A boom, the UK's 20 top-grossing corporate practices basked in the heat of a bull market during the last financial year. Indeed, as M&A fever swept across the City, some of the corporate big guns almost had more deals than they could handle.

Magic circle firm Linklaters topped the rankings for the second year in a row with its global turnover jumping by 16.1 per cent from £322m to £374m. Revenue per partner (RPP) in corporate, meanwhile, shot up from £1.75m to £1.83m. Although the corporate figure includes competition, non-contentious employment and employee incentives, there is no denying that the department, led by partner David Barnes, had a storming year. Linklaters' deals highlights included advising Old Mutual on its acquisition of Skandia for E4.8bn (£3.24bn) and Gold Fields' successful seven-month defence against Harmony's $8.1bn (£4.29bn) hostile takeover approach.

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Long Days in M&A
August 21, 2006
From BusinessWeek:
 KeyBanc Capital Markets is the institutional banking division of KeyCorp (KEY ), the nation's 10th-largest bank holding company. I received an offer to join the Mergers & Acquisitions group in Cleveland several months before graduating from the Tuck School of Business.

As an associate, I focus on buy-side and sell-side merger and acquisition transactions, corporate divestitures, and financial advisory assignments for public and private companies across a wide range of industries. My job responsibilities include creating PowerPoint presentations (pitch materials and management presentations), financial modeling, creating large Word documents used to describe businesses we are selling or raising financing for (offering memoranda), and directing the work of several analysts.

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New M&A rules met with mixed reactions
August 9, 2006
From The Standard:
 Business forays into China could become both easier and harder under the Commerce Ministry's new rules covering foreign investment and takeovers published Wednesday.

The regulations give foreign buyers explicit authorization for the first time to pay for stakes in Chinese companies in shares instead of cash, but they also confer broad new powers to block investments in key industries if they are deemed to be a danger to China's economic security.

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Private-equity M&A parade continues
August 8, 2006
From MarketWatch:
 An $8.3 billion planned purchase of industrial food-services firm Aramark by management and a supporting group including Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan funds highlighted the day's action. Substantial going-private deals from Reynolds & Reynolds and Aleris rounded out the news.

David Barry, editor at Private Equity Analyst, said the rash of private-equity deals comes after the firms have raised funds well into the tens of billions of dollars.

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Gloves come off M&A in Japan
July 27, 2006
From The Australian:
 THE thrust and parry of the hostile takeover bid was once unknown in the consensus-driven world of Japanese management. Over the past year, however, two high-profile attempts by iconoclastic internet entrepreneurs have forced a nation accustomed to a more decorous way of doing business to come to terms with capitalism red in tooth and claw.

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China to have record year for M&A activity - S&P
July 26, 2006
From Forbes:
 Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it expects 2006 to be a record year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in China.

The ratings agency said in a statement that it expects to see larger M&A actions by Chinese companies this year in both the overseas and domestic markets as they attempt to diversify their skills by entering overseas markets or consolidate their domestic market positions via foreign investment.

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European merger decision 'sets dangerous precedent'
July 13, 2006
From Times Online:
 The European Court of First Instance’s decision to overturn a European Commission merger approval creates a dangerous precedent for future mergers and acquisitions, leading lawyers warned today.

Johan Ysewyn, competition partner at Linklaters in Brussels, said: "The decision throws the Sony BMG merger into major uncertainty. The businesses can continue operating as a merged entity but now face the prospect of being forced to de-merge at the end of the European Commission’s new investigation."

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Merger arb hedge funds do well in first half of 2006
July 12, 2006
From MarketWatch:
 So-called merger arbitrage hedge funds buy shares of target companies and bet against the stock of acquiring firms. As a deal nears completion, the share prices of the two firms usually converge, generating returns for managers.

Merger arb managers tracked by The Barclay Group returned 7.92% during the first six months of the year, more than any other type of hedge fund. An index of merger arb hedge funds compiled by Hennessee Group LLC climbed 1.51% in June, leaving it up 8.31% so far in 2006.

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Lehman, JPMorgan Overtake Morgan Stanley, Citi on Energy M&A
July 10, 2006
From Bloomberg:
 Anyone who wants to know the hottest bankers in mergers and acquisitions should look at the energy industry, where Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are doing more business than anyone, including traditional leaders Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc.

Oil, natural gas, coal and electric companies account for $330 billion, or 18 percent, of takeovers announced in 2006, making energy one of the most lucrative industries in a record year for M&A, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The soaring oil and electricity prices that have consumers and politicians grumbling are making Wall Street even richer as investment banks reap about $1.65 billion in fees, compared with $2.55 billion for all of 2005.

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Merger boom sees record legal profits
July 10, 2006
From Telegraph.co.uk:
 Soaring turnover and profits at law firms have set new records and created more legal millionaires, with the "magic circle" of the four biggest leading the way.

Average profit per equity partner in the leading 50 has broken £500,000 for the first time, with Linklaters joining Slaughter and May at the top of the league and breaching the £1m-a-head barrier.

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Mittal Steel merger recommended
July 3, 2006
From Czech Business Weekly:
 Mittal Steel holdings in Central Europe will become part of the world’s largest steel group, if a recommended takeover is approved by shareholders.

The board of directors of Luxembourg-based steel giant Arcelor recommended accepting an improved € 25.6 billion (Kč 900 million) takeover offer from Netherlands-based Mittal Steel on June 25. The resulting Luxembourg-based company is to be called Alcelor-Mittal, according to separate press releases by both companies. Arcelor’s board at the same time recommended against accepting a € 13 billion bid from Russian steel producer SeverStal, which is seeking a 25 percent stake.

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Top performers rode merger-takeover wave

July 1, 2006
From The Seattle Times:
 There was no clearer illustration of how jittery the stock markets were in the second quarter than their immediate reaction to last week's Federal Reserve action.

By last Wednesday, the Standard & Poor's 500 had sunk more than 6 percent since early May, as investors fretted that the Fed would continue raising interest rates indefinitely to contain inflation even as the economy decelerated. Some economists even revived the concept of "stagflation" (a stagnant economy combined with high inflation), which last was popular in the Pet-Rocks-and-platform-shoes era.

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Stocks Are Mixed As Rate Jitters Overcome Big-Mergers Enthusiasm

June 28, 2006
From Black Enterprise:
 Jitters over the Federal Reserve's next decision on interest rates kept stocks narrowly mixed today despite a batch of multibillion-dollar merger deals.

Investors bid stocks modestly higher in morning trading after mining company Phelps Dodge Corp. said it will pay $40 billion in cash and stock for rivals Inco Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd., while steelmaker Arcelor SA agreed to a $33 billion bid from Mittal Steel Co.

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Latin American Merger Activity Soars

June 27, 2006
From MSN Money:
 Latin American mergers and acquisitions have leapt in 2006, as investors take stock after a decade of privatizations and market liberalization and opt to buy, sell or reorganize their local assets.

Latin American acquisitions have totaled $68.6 billion in 433 deals so far this year, more than three times the $20.2 billion registered in the same period of 2005, according to Dealogic. This year's numbers look set to match the boom of 1998-2000, when deals topped $100 billion per year.

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Euroshares higher midday as M&A hopes, bargain-hunting offset more Dow losses

June 14, 2006
From Forbes:
 Leading European exchanges were mixed in midday deals as losses by heavyweights like Axa and EADS and uncertainty ahead of CPI data were offset by selected bargain-hunting, dealers said.

At 12.33 am, the STOXX 50 was up 4.55 points higher at 3,209.11 and the STOXX 600 was 0.27 points higher at 301.93.

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M&A deals ‘bypassing Pensions Regulator’

June 13, 2006
From Investment & Pensions Europe:
 Some companies involved in M&A deals are bypassing applying for clearance from the Pensions Regulator due to concerns about the value of the process, according to a senior executive at actuarial and consulting firm Lane Clark & Peacock.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Hot Topics in Pensions’, LCP mergers and acquisitions head David Lane told journalists there is an increasing trend for firms to press ahead without seeking clearance, which is a voluntary process.

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Mergers and acquisitions up 30%

April 24, 2006
From Ireland On-Line:
 The number of merger and acquisition deals involving Irish companies increased by 30% to 38 in the first quarter of 2006 compared to the same period a year earlier, the latest M&A tracker survey from corporate finance specialists Ion Equity reveals.

The value of deals in the first quarter, however, fell by 70% to €1.16bn from almost €4bn in the first quarter of 2005.

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Mergers boost bond sales in US tech, telecom sector

April 21, 2006
From Reuters:
 Corporate bond issuance from the U.S. telecommunications, media and technology sector is surging this year as companies refinance debt and pay for the biggest wave of acquisitions and mergers in five years.

Debt sales from the TMT sector have risen to nearly $30 billion so far this year, almost matching the $33 billion sold in all of 2005, according to financial data provider Dealogic.

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NYSE, Nasdaq to Report Profits as Mergers Sweep Equity Markets

April 19, 2006
From Bloomberg:
 NYSE Group Inc. and Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. are poised to report first-quarter earnings as merger speculation sweeps the world's biggest stock markets.

The New York Stock Exchange probably will say later today that it earned $38 million, or 24 cents a share, in its first period as a publicly traded company, said Richard Repetto, an analyst at Sandler O'Neill Partners. Nasdaq may say tomorrow that profit fell 16 percent to $10.7 million, or 11 cents a share, according to five analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

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Hedge funds cash in on rise in hostile bids

March 2, 2006
From Reuters:
 Hedge funds are filling their boots on share speculation, as European hostile or unsolicited M&A bids reach a six-year high, fund sources say.

Unsolicited bids are good news for share-speculation -- the initial bid is typically rebuffed, increasing the chances of a second or rival offer and resulting share price hike.

In a recent textbook case, shares at British ports firm P&O (PO.L: Quote, Profile, Research) rocketed 65 percent during a three-month bidding war between Dubai Ports and PSA International, ending in Dubai Port's second, 520 pence offer.

Its shares were trading near 315 pence per share before the first offer at 443 pence.

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Bankers expect record year for mergers

March 1, 2006
From Institutional Investor:
 The corporate mergers and acquisitions business has been so strong during the first two months of 2006 that investment bankers are predicting a record year for deals.

The year has already brought Boston Scientific Corp.'s acquisition of Guidant Corp. for $27.2 billion and The Walt Disney Co.'s purchase of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion.

Analysts attribute the increase in deals in part to heightened activism among such investors as hedge funds that are pushing companies to sell off unprofitable business units. Another factor is the long-held belief that buying a competitor is the fastest way to expand a company.

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Limited room for growth puts competitors in intense race for expansion

March 1, 2006
From The Korea Herald:
 A wave of merger and acquisition activity is expected to hit the retail sector as major players are poised to do battle amid increasingly fierce competition.

"The answer to a retail market that is on the verge of saturation is mergers and acquisitions," said Im Bock-soon, director of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's distribution and logistics research team.

With growth limited in this market, competitors are racing to strengthen their operation by entering into new businesses and stepping up the pace of expanding the number of stores both at home and abroad. Experts predict the domestic market to reach saturation by 2008.

"Retailers constantly need to sharpen their competitiveness, especially in a business that involves a market with limited room for growth," said Im.

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Our Take on Utility M&A Activity

March 1, 2006
From Morningstar:
 The last 15 months have seen an explosion of merger activity in the normally staid domestic utility sector. Some of the most prominent names in our coverage universe have paired up at the altar, including Exelon EXC and PSEG PEG, Duke DUK and Cinergy CIN, FPL FPL and Constellation CEG, NRG NRG and Texas Genco, Keyspan KSE and National Grid NGG, and MidAmerican Holdings and PacifiCorp SPI. In addition to these deals, a number of other domestic names have indicated they are on the prowl to make acquisitions. In this article, we investigate the factors behind this burst of domestic M&A activity, and offer our take on some of the combinations proposed to date.

Why all the M&A now?
The repeal of PUHCA. The repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA) contained in the Energy Policy Act is arguably a key driver of heightened merger activity. It promotes merger activity by eliminating the longstanding requirement that only adjacent (electronically interconnected) utilities can merge, thus expanding the pool of possible merger candidates. The repeal of PUHCA also eliminates SEC merger filing requirements.

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Paris shares close sharply higher on fresh M&A talk, firm Wall Street - UPDATE

March 1, 2006
From Forbes:
 Share prices closed sharply higher, bouncing from yesterday's declines as investor sentiment was boosted by fresh merger and acquisition talk in Europe, with a firm opening on Wall Street lending additional support to the French market this afternoon, dealers said.

The CAC-40 index finished up 57.16 points or 1.1 pct at 5,057.61, on solid volume of 5.1 bln euro.

Among CAC-40 stocks, 35 closed higher and 5 ended lower. On the Matif, March CAC-40 futures were trading 57.5 points firmer at 5,061.

Dealers said the fervent activity on the M&A front has convinced investors that further upside remains for equities, as new deals seem to have hit the market every week since the beginning of this year.

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Gabelli To Launch Shariah-Compliant Hedge Fund

February 28, 2006
From Institutional Investor:
 Rye, N.Y.-based Gabelli Asset Management's alternatives arm will launch a Shariah-compliant hedge fund, Gabelli Shariah Merger-Arbitrage Fund, in March. As a Shariah-compliant fund, the vehicle will adhere to specific restrictions. It will, for example, not be permitted to invest in banks and insurance companies because charging interest on loans is curbed under Islamic law.

Frederick Scholz, president of Gabelli's alts unit, said he will launch this portfolio to cater to the growing wealth in the Middle East market. While some Middle East institutions have invested in traditional hedge funds, this only constitutes a fraction of the market, explained Scholz. Additionally, many institutions, including Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank and National Bank of Dubai, recently moved to stricter provisions and can now invest only in Shariah-compliant vehicles, he noted. Scholz said the new Shariah fund is a natural extension to his firm's socially responsible funds, which cater to Western faith-based organizations. Neither permits investments in gambling and pornography, he noted.

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Growing merger fever makes value funds attractive

February 28, 2006
From Montgomery Advertiser:
 Bruce Weindruch is CEO of The History Factory, a Chantilly, Va., company that archives corporate historical documents. And he's got a great perspective on the merger fevers that raged on Wall Street in the 1960s and 1980s. He did a research project for Tenneco in the late 1980s, when it was still a sprawling conglomerate.

Tenneco owned Newport News Shipbuilding, a company that didn't seem to fit in with the rest of its holdings but had been part of Tenneco for years. Tenneco executives asked Weindruch a startling question as he began his project.

"They said, 'If you come across any documentation about why we bought it, could you let us know?'" Weindruch says.

Merger and acquisition activity hasn't reached the level of frenzy where companies are bought and sold for no apparent reason, but it's surely on the upswing. Is there any way for individual investors to get in on the action? Sure -- but it's far from a sure thing.

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M&A Award - 2005 - The First National Contest in the Sphere of Mergers and Acquisitions in Russia

February 28, 2006
From I-Newswire.com:
 In Moscow, Russia, took place The First National Contest in the Sphere of Mergers and Acquisitions “M&A Award – 2005”. In the framework of the award were set 6 nominations in mergers and acquisitions and investment banking: best investment bank, best IPO manager, best bonds manager, best bills manager, best M&A consultant, and the deal of the year on the M&A market.

M&A Award is organized by ICG «ConsultProm» and has an aim to attract attention to the Russian M&A and investment banking services market, to contribute to increasing of its transparency, and to stimulate participants of M&A market to further increasing of their professional level.

In rating nominees were taken into consideration quantitative and qualitative factors – number of deals, volume of deals, expert judgment, public citing index.

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M&A deals jump 47% with resources top prey

February 28, 2006
From Globe and Mail:
 The value of mergers and acquisitions in Canada jumped 47 per cent last year to the highest level since the heady days of 2000, thanks in large part to booming demand for natural resources, and several analysts say conditions are ripe for another banner year.

The $166-billion in corporate unions last year came from 1,244 announced transactions, a 42-per-cent increase from the 875 deals in 2004, Toronto-based investment banker Crosbie & Co. said yesterday.

That's an average rate of more than three announcements a day, seven days a week.

The boom was capped by a spate of hostile takeover offers in the last three months of the year, involving companies such as Hudson's Bay Co., Dofasco Ltd. and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc., a phenomenon that surprised many -- including the folks at Crosbie.

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Merriman Curhan Ford hires head of M&A

February 28, 2006
From San Francisco Business Times:
 Merriman Curhan Ford & Co., a San Francisco emerging growth investment bank, said Tuesday that it hired T. Yates Exley as managing director and head of mergers and acquisitions.

The 19-year industry veteran held previous leadership positions at Wachovia Securities and Dillon, Read & Co.

"We must grow our M&A practice," said Jon Merriman, CEO of the firm that's a subsidiary of MCF Corp. (AMEX: MEM) "This will be a high-margin and profitable component of our investment banking business, and Yates will get us in the game rapidly."

M&A has been a popular way for venture capitalists to cash out of their investments in promising young companies in recent years as the market for initial public offerings has been lackluster.

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Politicians crash M&A party

February 28, 2006
From Reuters:
 A wave of cross-border mergers and acquisitions has raised the ire of governments around the world, threatenin