U.S. mergers hit new record, but lag Europe
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Merger volume hit a record $1.57  trillion in the United States in 2007, according to research  firm Thomson Financial, despite a sharp decline in dealmaking  at mid-year when credit markets tightened and mergers became  more costly to finance.
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Johnson & Johnson's $25.4 billion takeover of Guidant Corp. and the $35 billion union of Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. are leading the busiest quarter for mergers in more than four years.  -The Washington Post
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Most European equity markets returning from the long holiday weekend had a steady session Tuesday, supported by merger activity.
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The value of foreign-backed takeovers of British firms hit a quarterly record in the three months to June 30 amid the sale of pharmacy group Alliance Boots and steelmaker Corus, data showed Tuesday.
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European stocks rose Monday as the euro retreated from record highs against the dollar and merger speculation and cost-cutting agendas among Europe's largest companies drew attention.
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A rush of multibillion-dollar buyouts  has catapulted the volume of private equity deals to their  highest level on record, data published on Tuesday shows.
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OFFSHORE gains drove the share market to record levels today, albeit on lower than average volume because of little trade in three states which are having public holidays today.
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Over five months after the two companies announced their intention to merge, search engine leader Google and display advertising leader DoubleClick petitioned the European Commission on Friday for clearance of their merger terms. This morning, according to the Associated Press, the EC responded by warning that a full investigation of their petition could consume as much as four months.
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A fresh burst of merger and acquisition activity gave an early boost to European stocks on Monday but gains evaporated as worries about US subprime lenders came to the fore.
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Business & money: Markets on both sides of the Atlantic take  fright  at data showing weakness in the US and Germany.
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(InfoWorld) - While consolidation can be a sign of a mature, slowing market, the M&A activity happening now, especially seen in context of this week's six-year Nasdaq Composite Index high, signals confidence in IT and prospects for growth. High-tech mergers and acquisitions hit a record number last year and the trend continues. Wednesday, Cisco Systems announcedÂ it will make a $135 million acquisition of Reactivity, a maker of XML gateway and security hardware to manage Web services. Tuesday,Â SAP said it would acquire Pilot Software, a supplier of strategy management software, while Wind River SystemsÂ saidÂ it bought FSMLabs' embedded Linux technology for real-time applications. SAP rival Software AG said Wednesday thatÂ it will be focusing on SOA products and services and plans acquisitions to broaden its product portfolio. Companies outside of traditional enterprise IT are also part of the M&A trend. Satellite radio operators Sirius Satellite RadioÂ and XM Satellite Radio Holdings, with total revenue of about $1.5 billion, announced Monday thatÂ they plan to merge. Though different sectors within IT are subject to unique market situations, globalization and trends in financing are the prime forces driving M&A, according to Eric Gebaide, managing director of Innovation Advisors, a New York investment firm. After the "general meltdown" in 2001, it's been hard for small companies, especially those under $75 million in revenue, to go public, Gebaide said. This makes them acquisition targets. "Another factor is the need to start having global solutions," Gebaide said. The globalization of technology is underscored by an Innovation Advisers study, based on using data sourced from Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, that shows that the total percentage of U.S.-based companies participating in M&A activity continued to decline to 51.6 percent from 57.9 percent in 2005. Overall M&A transactions hit a record last year: The total number of transactions in 2006 was 4,669, exceeding 2005's total of 3,455, and the 2000 total of 2,871 deals at the peak of the dot-com boom, according to Innovations Advisers. But the total amount of dollars spent on M&A last year was less than in 2000: $295.8 billion, while the 2000 transaction total was $490.3 billion. Company valuations are more reasonable now than in 2000. Recent deals show software companies are being valued at two to four times revenue, while service companies are valued at one to two times revenue, Gebaide said. Historically, these numbers are more normal then the valuations of the dot-com boom. Meanwhile, services companies are forecasting solid revenue growth this year -- a sign that users are investing in IT, Gebaide points out. The Nasdaq close on Wednesday, at 2518.42, was the highest in six years. On Thursday it closed up again, at 2524.94. Coming right after earnings season, this is another sign that confidence is high. Although overall global revenue growth in IT is expected to be modest compared to the dot-com boom --- most estimates peg IT growth this year at about 6.5 percent -- the expansion is likely to be more sustainable than it was seven years ago. Though the IT market may not be as exuberant as it was in 2000, many investors are certainly willing to settle for more stable, rational growth. Â
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U.S. shares looked set to open lower on Tuesday, with stock exchange operators Nasdaq  and NYSE Group Inc.  in focus as a result of developments in their respective transatlantic merger endeavors.
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European defense companies know they must unite to keep up, as the gap in military spending between the United States and its NATO allies continues to widen. But a push to consolidate Europe's fragmented shipbuilding sector &#151; a minefield of national, corporate and labor sensitivities &#151; is proving slow and difficult.
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Merger and acquisition activity involving UK banks set a new record before the crisis in the credit market.
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Microsoft&#39;s $1.2 billion acquisition bid for Oslo-based Fast Search and Transfer and a dour report on Amazon marked the new year&#39;s first full trading week in the United States, as technology company share prices continued to slide.
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Add another entry to the list of how Americans and Europeans are parting ways. Several German companies, which rushed to have their shares traded on U.S. exchanges during the bull market of the late 1990s, are ...
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European stock markets rose on Monday, lit up by merger and acquisition news after a bright performance in Tokyo and Hong Kong, dealers said.