Weekly M&A Volume Hits Highest Level Since 2009
Special to CNBC.com
Mergers and acquisitions activity kicked into even higher gear this week as Intel’s $7.67 billion all-cash bid for security technology firm McAfee led to biggest week for M&A since mid-December.
The the dealbetween Intel and McAfee brings the total value of global M&A deals for the week to $84.81 billion, according to Dealogic.
The last time M&A dollar volume was as high was the week Exxon Mobil announced it was buying XTO Energy. That week M&A volume reached $88.6 billion, Dealogic said.
Global M&A has now reached $1.7 trillion for the year, up 23 percent from the same period last year, Dealogic said. The volume of U.S. targeted deals is at $498.1 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the firm, which specializes in technology, data, analytics and consulting for investment banks.
The dollar totals don't include spinoffs and repurchases.
This week's M&A deals include BHP Billiton's $39 billion hostile bid for Potash , announced earlier this week.BHP is hoping to win over regulators before approaching Potash shareholders, after the board of the Canadian-fertilizer company rejected BHP's bid.
The Intel acquisition is the largest technology M&A deal since September 2009 when Xerox bid $8.1 billion for Affiliated Technologies.
The other deals this week include New Zealand's Rank Group’s $4.5 billion bid for Pactiv , the maker of Hefty bags, and Dell’s $1.15 billion for data-storage company 3PAR .
