Last week’s news about the takeover of
Heinz by Warren Buffett’s investment group and the merger between American
Airlines and US Airways pointed up a new wave of transactions among American
corporations. A strong stock market does generally lead the way to more merger
activity, and that looks to be what’s happening so far.
There was $40 billion worth of deals
struck last Thursday alone, with Heinz and the airline merger both being announced on
that day. Earlier in the month, Dell went private in a $20 billion deal, and
Comcast bought up nearly half of NBC Universal for $18 billion.Altogether, there has been $160 billion in mergers and acquisitions announced so far in 2013. That’s the most in the first month and a half of any year since 2005. These deals can have an significant effect on stock prices - bankrupt American Airlines' share price nearly doubled the day its merger was announced - so they're well worth watching.
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