M&A bankers lose star quality
The bold strategists who engineered the deals that trasnformed the corporate landscape have been replaced by executors with little more than balance sheets
M&A
Resources
KNOC agrees C$4.1bn deal for Harvest
State-run Korea National Oil Corp said it agreed to buy Canada’s Harvest Energy Trust for C$4.1bn to secure energy supplies as it competes with other resource-hungry Asian countries for overseas assets
M&A sees revival as India finds ‘sweet spot’
Companies regain appetite for cross-border deals
GrainCorp buys US malt maker for $655m
Australian grain groups expected to consolidate
Private equity still on M&A sidelines
PE sees 67% fall in first nine months
China sets tough terms on foreign M&A deals
Willingness to use new powers
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Investment banking league table
See how the world’s leading investment banks have weathered the credit crunch, with global rankings of M&A activity by net revenue and deal value for the first half of 2009
Comment and Analysis
Better to wait out siege by bidders
The ’put up or shut up’ order is one of the best weapons available to a British company under siege, but knowing when to use it calls for skill and sound judgment
Investors are crucial to reducing flowback risk
Kraft’s £10.2bn unsolicited cash-and-shares approach for Cadbury has reawakened the debate about the problem of flowback in cross-border deals
Raised spirits
Deal-making: Glasses are clinking again in the City of London as bankers celebrate recent mergers and acquisitions – yet hopes of a possible upturn are mixed with caution
Merger may be only choice for T-Mobile
Deutsche Telekom is in talks with competitors including Vodafone and Telefónica to sell the UK’s fourth-biggest mobile operator. A smarter solution would be to knock on France Telecom’s door and suggest a merger
Survive company mergers
Business leaders will soon see opportunities for mergers and acquisitions even though getting valuation right is difficult, writes Stefan Stern
Mergers as kill or cure
Pharmaceutical industry veterans reveal what worked for them – and what didn’t
M&A turns to barter to finance deals
Businesses turned to bartering during the Great Depression of the 1930s, paying doctors with eggs or offering work in return for food. Now, some companies have turned back the clock and are swapping assets instead of shopping for them
Exxon’s M&A inaction puzzles analysts
With oil prices now on their way up again, analysts begin to wonder whether Exxon, the oil giant, has any intention of making material purchases
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