Deals of fortune: M&A keeps rolling through the downturn

Our roundup of the biggest deals so far of 2012 points to healthy activity.

The world economy had not collapsed completely at the time of going to press, so the M&A market is not quite dead yet. In fact, the early part of 2012 has seen a startling array of chunky deals. Bloomberg’s ‘2012 Global M&A Outlook’ report pointed to “cautious optimism” for the year after 2011 saw global deal count and total value surpass 2010’s levels.

Mining sweep

The undoubted standout deal of the year so far is commodities trader Glencore’s blockbuster merger with mining company Xstrata, first ­reported as an $80bn (£51bn) transaction, but estimates since have been edging up towards the $90bn mark. The deal may still stall unless Xstrata shareholders are appeased (two major shareholders complain that it undervalues it); but advisers Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and ­Linklaters have already clocked up plenty of hours for their respective clients.

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