Mergers and acquisitions grew significantly in 2006 globally. Two big merger and acquisition deals in the very first two months set up the pace for the entire year. The first was the acquisition of Guidant Corp by Boston Scientific Corp. for $27.2 billion. The other was the Walt Disney's acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion. These two initial months saw the declaration of $473 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions. This marked the continuation of the growth trend of mergers and acquisitions from the two earlier years.
Some of the important mergers and acquisitions in 2006 are -
- Between Banca Intesa SpA and Sanpaolo IMI SpA for $37.54 billions.
- Between Wachovia Corp. and Golden West Financial in the banking sector worth $26 billions
- Between Mittal Steel Co. and Arcelor SA for $22.7 billions.
- Between Xstrata Plc and Falconbridge Ltd. in the mining sector for $21.2 billions.
- Anadarko Petroleum and Kerr-McGee Corp. in the energy sector for $18 billions.
- Between Johnson & Johnson Inc. as the acquirer and Pfizer Inc. Consumer Products Div. as the target company for $16.6 billions in the pharmaceuticals sector.
- Between Softbank KK as the acquirer and Vodafone Japan KK as the target company for $15.3 billions in telecommunications
- Regions Financial Corp. and AmSouth Bancorp. for $10 billions in banking and finance.
- AXA SA and Winterthur in the insurance sector for $9.93 billions
- Goldcorp Inc. and Glamis Gold Ltd. for $8.6 billions in mining and minerals sector.
- Between Merrill, Lynch & Co. as the acquirer and BlackRock Inc. as the target firm for $8billions
- Takeover of Abbey National, Life Insurance Div. by Resolution Plc in the insurance sector for $6.7 billions
- Between MTN Group Ltd. and Investcom LLC in the telecom sector for $ 5.5 billion in telecommunications
