New York – Mergers and acquisitions worldwide rose to a record $3.1 trillion as leveraged buyouts almost tripled, surpassing the previous high set in 2000 during the peak of the dot-com boom.
Today’s $46 billion of takeovers, including Blackstone Group LP’s acquisition of Sam Zell’s Equity Office Properties Trust, the biggest owner of U.S. office buildings, and Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.’s offer for London Stock Exchange Plc helped make this year the busiest for mergers. U.S. Steel Corp. and French building-materials supplier Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA were among companies whose shares rose last week on takeover speculation.
“M&A tends to follow the global cycle and there still may be about two years of growth ahead of us,” said Robert Jukes, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group in London. “Conditions for M&A are nearly perfect” as earnings climb and stock prices increase, making it easier to finance purchases, he said.
