Mining’s bruiser-in-chief builds a behemoth
Cecil John Rhodes himself might be proud of the the ambitions of Mick Davis, Xstrata chief executive, writes Sylvia Pfeifer
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Activists challenge Osaka bourse
Investors in the Osaka Securities Exchange are challenging management to push for better merger terms from the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Cisco back on the acquisition trail
Profits and revenues beat analyst expectations
Glencore old guard looms over Xstrata
Chiefs deny trading house would be favoured
Misys chief leaves investors with messy deal
Unclear whether merger agreement with Temenos is workable
State disposals expected to spur Irish mergers
Value of deals in 2011 surged 44% to €14.3bn
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Comment and Analysis
A merger fit for world domination
Consolidating mining and trading bodes ill for consumers. The analogy in the oil market would be a Saudi Arabia producing three times more crude than it already does
M&A in 2012: bumping along the bottom
The number of deals done last year might have been higher than for 2010 as a whole but it was a worse year than dealmakers expected
Battle of exchanges
DB/NYSE is offering to accept products from rivals that are closer substitutes to its own than it would previously countenance, a significant improvement
Lessons of the failed G4S acquisition
Institutional investors were criticised for failing to back the deal, but blame must also attach to the company and its chief executive
M&A: parental advisory recommended
Some years are profitable when huge deals land. But often they are not and the only reason advisory ends up in the black is because takes a clip from other lines of business
Brewers brush off fears over A$10.8bn deal
Talks may have started out as hostile, but there was harmony at the headquarters of SABMiller and Foster’s after the agreement was made
Mobile operators push for mergers to survive
Regulators are locked in a battle with phone groups as the need for scale bumps up against a desire for competition to drive down pricing
Japan fumbles with M&A, it needs to change its game
Expansion is one route open to companies in a stagnant economy, but recent dealmaking does not inspire confidence, writes Kevin Brown
FT series: Cross border deals
Santander drives on to next set of challenges
The Spanish bank, which has won over UK sceptics since it acquired Abbey National at the end of 2004, now wants to make a bigger mark in corporate banking
Tata confident Corus will regain its lustre
Given the problems since Tata acquired Corus for $13.1bn just over three years ago, opinion is divided on whether the deal will ever deliver the benefits expected from it
Synergies not transparent at Pilkington
Nippon Sheet Glass’s takeover of Pilkington in 2006 may have been friendly, but integrating the groups has been far from easy
Desperate to integrate and focus on growth
The Somerdale debacle is an unwelcome sideshow to Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury, which remains a deal with strategic sense and a clear operational overlap
Japan Tobacco’s Gallaher move catches light
Three years on, JT’s gambit appears to be paying off, and has delivered more than $400m in cost savings and other synergies
Realising synergies is formula for success
The most successful deals, bankers say, are those where the strategy is clear, allowing the acquirer to realise synergies and recover the premium it paid to buy the business
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