Corporate M&A Activity

This is a much more important issue in economic development. Where do you go to get the facts on M&A activity in the US and abroad? Try Thomson One Banker. Download first quaster 2005 data here.

Merger activity continued at a fervor pitch in the first quarter of 2005. Announced worldwide merger and acquisitions exceeded $589 bn in the opening quarter. Together with the $670 bn in announced M&A activity during the fourth quarter of 2004, more than US$1.2 trillion in announced deals have occurred in the past six months. That marks the strongest pace of merger volume during a six-month period since the second half of 2000 when nearly US$1.5 trillion in deals took place.

The current quarter ranks as the tenth most active period in terms of dollar value and the third-best opening quarter. Only the first quarter 2000 with US$1.19 trillion in volume and the initial quarter of 1999 when $694 bn in deals were announced had better debut quarters than the current one. M&A of US targets totaled US$270 bn. That ranks as the ninth best quarter for US M&A in terms of dollar volume. In four of the previous six quarters, US M&A volume has surpassed US$200 bn.