After a five-month lull in activity, 10 deals with a total value of $27bn were announced in a single day in April, signalling a return of confidence among chief executives.
Among the biggest were Oracle’s $7.4bn move on Sun Microsystems; GlaxoSmithKline’s $3.6bn bid for Stiefel Laboratories; and PepsiCo’s $6bn cash and stock offer to buy out investors in its two biggest bottlers.
