Deal Making Gets Off to a Strong Start in 2011

By Stephen Grocer, WSJ DealJournal, March 3, 2011:
Two months into the year, M&A is off to its best start since Lehman failed and the flow of deals slowed to a trickle.
Global M&A volume this year stands at $435 billion, a 9% increase from 2010. The biggest jumps in deal activity came in the U.S. and Asia, where deal volume was up 34% and 42% respectively. Europe saw a 9% fall in deal volume.
M&A activity did slow in February. Volume world-wide slipped 7% to $210 billion in February from January. U.S. volume last month was essentially flat from January.
Below are some more tidbits from Dealogic.
– Oil and gas has been the busiest industry for deal making, with $65.8 billion in announced transactions. Real estate and finance follow with $9.4 billion and $45.1 billion, respectively.
–The biggest deals in the oil-and-gas sector? BP’s announced $9 billion acquisition of a 30% stake in 23 of Reliance Industries’ oil and gas blocks and Ensco’s $7.5 billion acquisition of Pride International.
–Deutsche Borse’s $10.5 billion deal for NYSE Euronext ranks as the largest deal in February.
–J.P. Morgan Chase still tops the globally and U.S. league tables. Goldman is No. 2 globally, while Morgan is No. 2 in the U.S.
–Through the same period last year, J.P. Morgan ranked eighth global and didn’t crack the top 10 in the U.S.