Global M&A volume reaches $3 trillion mark

Global merger and acquisition volume has reached the $3 trillion mark so far this year, driven by slew of M&A activity pursuant to the financial turmoil across the world, a latest report says.     

Though the global M&A volume has reached a whopping $3 trillion mark, it represents a decline of 22 per cent from its year ago period, as all regions except Latin America reported decreasing M&A volume, according to data compiled by deal tracking firm Dealogic.     

"Global M&A has reached $3 trillion with the help of recently announced banking sector targeted deals led by the $44.4 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America," Dealogic said.     

The $29.3 billion acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB Group and the $15.1 billion acquisition of Wachovia by Wells Fargo, in addition to billions invested by European and United States were the other significant deals so far this year.    

 Though finance is the most targetted industry, the finance M&A volume declined to $538.3 billion till October 20, from $582.2 billion in the period under review last year.     

According to experts, the crisis in financial markets is acting as a dampener for M&A deals. Although, valuations of companies have gone down, the banks are cutting down their exposure to funding the deals.    

"However, $538.3 billion is still the second largest year-to-date volume on record and finance is the most targeted industry so far this year," Dealogic added.