Europe back in vogue in 'Golden Age' of M&A

London

EUROPE is back in fashion as the destination of choice for foreign buyers.

The volume of deals involving a European target reached US$134.2 billion in the first half of the year, up 57 per cent from a year earlier and poised for the most active year in at least a decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The largest transaction was Hutchison Whampoa Ltd's £10.3 billion (S$21.79 billion) acquisition of Telefonica SA's UK unit, creating Britain's biggest wireless provider by customers. That figure may be surpassed if US seed company Monsanto Co is successful in its pursuit of Swiss rival Syngenta AG, which last month rejected a US$45 billion takeover offer.