Global merger and take-over activity fell by 24 percent by value last year from the 2008 level to 2.395 trillion dollars, (1.660 trillion euros), the lowest total for five years, a survey found on January 06. The fall would have been much bigger but for state rescues of several banks.
The survey by consultants Dealogic, on the basis of world-wide announcements, showed that there was a sharp recovery of merger and acquisition activity towards the end of 2009.
The biggest deal of the year was the purchase of US pharmaceutical group Wyeth by US group Pfizer for 68 billion dollars. Second came a tie up of the Australian iron ore activities of Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, followed by a fusion of US pharmaceutical groups Merck and Schering-Plough.
However, activity was propped up by rescues for several banks and financial institutions, notably by the British government's rescue of Royal Bank of Scotland. The figures were also boosted by tie-ups resulting from bankruptcies or restructuring, as the financial crisis exposed weaknesses across finance and industry.
By region, activity fell by 24 percent in the United States to 783.4 billion dollars and by 44.0 percent in Europe to 718.5 billion dollars.
But in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan, it rose by 9.0 percent to 493.1 billion dollars, driven by the Rio Tinto-BHP deal. Dealogic data showed that merger and acquisition business appeared to be recovering. In the last quarter of last year, the volume of mergers and take-overs jumped by 46 percent from the figure for the previous quarter, to 739.7 billion dollars.
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