The credit crunch has reduced merger and acquisition (m&a) activity around the world. Banks have tightened their purse-strings and the cheap credit that financed deals during the private-equity boom has dried up. This year the value of deals has fallen by 15% in America and 30% in Europe. But there is a bright spot amid the gloom: Japanese companies are on a spending spree, capitalising on the distress to buy firms abroad. The number of foreign deals involving Japanese firms has increased only slightly compared with last year, but the value of transactions has more than doubled, reaching ? trillion (around $57 billion) so far this year, and on track to exceed 2006's record.
展开▼
