RECORD YEAR FOR CHEMICAL MERGERS

Abstract

DESPITE ALL of the talk about a possible recession this year, analysts may look back on 2007 as the year of the big deal. Good economic conditions that began in 2006 created a pipeline of major acquisitions that retained a strong flow throughout the year, even as debt markets tightened. Of the 81 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) worth more than $25 million in value that were completed during the 2007 calendar year, 11 were valued above $1 billion, six more than in 2006, according to Young & Partners, an investment banking firm that provides merger, acquisition, divestiture, and other services to chemical and life sciences firms. The abundance of large transactions propelled the total deal value for the year to $55 billion, well above the record of $42 billion set in 2006. “The billion-plus dollar deals are very important in percentage dollar volume, representing about 70% of the total,” Young & Partners President Peter Young ...