European mergers and acquisitions tipped to top £530bn

Date: 8 November 2005
Source: Business.scotsman.com

Date: 8 November 2005

The value of mergers and acquisitions across Europe is forecast to hit $930 billion (£530bn) by the end of the year. Research by United States investment bank JP Morgan had previously estimated deals worth some $883bn (£505bn).

However, there has been a flurry of cross-border activity in the market, with many acquisitions involving British companies. These include Telefonica's £17.7bn bid for mobile phone operator O2 and Nippon Sheet Glass' £1.96bn approach to Pilkington, the glass-maker.

Several other large companies are in takeover talks that could lead to deals being announced before the end of the year, ScottishPower, the energy group, is in discussions with E.ON of Germany, while potential bidders are circling P&O, the British ports and ferries group that was recently approached by DP World, Dubai's state-owned ports operator.

However, the figure is unlikely to top the $1200bn (£686bn) seen in 1999, at the height of the stock market boom.

One feature of the recent deals has been the decision of companies to use their balance sheets to make acquisitions rather than return cash to shareholders.

"Today, most shareholders have stopped asking for cash back and prefer M&A," said Paul Gibbs, head of M&A research at JP Morgan. The end of restructuring and huge cash generation is a major driver of executive confidence."

Between 2001 and 2004, many companies cut back on M&A, partly because of high-profile mistakes made in the late 1990s.
600450 European mergers and acquisitions tipped to top £530bn glassonweb.com

See more news about:

Others also read

MORE...

Emirates Glass wins major supply contract for Palm Jumeirah
Emirates Glass, a Dubai Investment subsidiary, has won a major contract to supply 140,000 square meters of its premium glass to the prestigious development on the Palm Jumeirah, reaffirming its already established reputation as the single most prominent company in the entire regional glass industry.The deal was announced during the company's participation in the prestigious Big 5 show, the largest annual venue for the entire Middle-East glass contracting industry.
ISRA Receives Major Display Glass Inspection Order
Isra Vision Systems AG supplier of machine vision systems, has successfully improved its market position in display glass inspection with a major order totalling 1.8 Mio Euro.
Rexam, buyout firms to bid for Calmar-sources
Packagers such as the UK's Rexam and private equity firms are set to vie for pump-sprayer business Calmar, which France's Saint-Gobain (SGOB.
Company to close lime plant in Carey next month
The National Lime & Stone Co. will discontinue production of calcined lime early next month at its Carey plant, the company CEO announced Thursday.
China glass import a cheaper option for Amritsar firm
Jain Scientific Glass Works, manufacturers of glassware for laboratories, is importing glass as raw material from China, which was much cheaper than the local product and abundantly available.
Corning, AGC Glass-substrate Capacity Expansion Projects Unit: 1 furnace Company Location 2004 2005 2006 Corning U.S.
Japan 1 2 1 S. Korea 6 6 3 Southern Taiwan 4 2 0 Central Taiwan 0 4 2 AGC Japan 0 1 1 Taiwan (Yunlin) 1 1 1 Source: PIDA (Photonic Industry & Technology Development Association) Taiwan TFT-LCD Panel Makers Happy to See Substrate-price Falls in 2006 Taipei, Dec. 27, 2005 (CENS)--Both of the world's top-two glass-substrate makers are actively expanding their production capacity in Taiwan, which is expected to cut substrate transportation time and cost for local thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel makers and boost production efficiency, according to Michael Wang, project manager and senior analyst of Taiwan's PIDA (Photonic Industry & Technology Development Association).According to Wang, Asahi Glass Co. (AGC) of Japan has solved problems in lowering the defect-free rate for the production of fifth- and sixth-generation (5G, 6G) glass substrates, and is expected to tap the market with products with higher price competitiveness in 2006 to grab more market share in the 6G substrate businessIn addition, Wang added, the aggressive capacity added by both Corning of the U.S., the world's No. 1 substrate supplier, and AGC, the No. 2, will lead to price drops for glass substrates and will especially benefit TV panel makers such as AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO) in TaiwanCurrently, Wang pointed out, a 6G substrate is priced at about 27,000 to 30,000 Japanese yen, about 1,000 to 2,000 yen lower than in the third quarter of 2005.

Add new comment