M & A Deals Worth Bn Signed In Uk During 1997

A frenzied wave of mergers and takeovers worth more than £64.1 billion has shaken up British industry and earned record fees for investment banks in 1997.

Twelve deals worth more than £1 billion were signed during 1997, making it a year of giant-sized deal-making for bankers and consultants according to Acquisitions Weekly. The British magazine which tracks mergers and takeovers said that 1991 was nearly a record year.

Topping the merger charts were drinks giants Guinness and Grand Metropolitan which have come together in a £24 billion megamerger to form a globe-straddling new colossus called Diageo.

Merrill Lynch, one of the worlds leading investment banks also earned itself a top spot on the merger charts by its £3.1 billion takeover of British fund manager Mercury Asset Management.

 

More than 1,801 mergers and takeovers took place in Britain during 1997 according to Acquisitions Weekly. The spate of takeovers is part of worldwide trend, said Acquisitions Weekly editor Philip Healey.

The magazine says that 18 takeover got underway in December and it predicts that the tidal wave of megamergers will continue for the foreseeable future. There is every sign that 1998 will be just as buoyant as 1997 in terms of merger and acquisition activity, says Healey.

British investment bank Lazard Freres which advised on 34 transactions worth more than [pounds sterling] 1.3 billion during the neverending round of takeovers. Unusually, British investment banks like Lazard Freres, BZW and Schroders which have lost round to the Americans, were the biggest winners from the takeover boom.

In an ironical twist, SBC Warburg and the Swiss UBS which were two other big players in the mergers market have announced in December that they will merge.

SBC Warburg advised on takeovers valued at £19.8 billion. It is reckoned that 13,857 takeover deals worth £829 billion were struck worldwide during 1997.

Britains takeover boom has been running for the last three year. The record year was 1995.