In the 1980s, hostile takeovers and LBOa cquisitions were all the rage. Companies sought to acquire others through aggressive stock purchases and cared little about the target companysconcerns. The 1990s were the decade of friendly mergers, dominated by afew sectors of the economy. Mergers in the telecommunications, financialservices, and technology industries were commanding headlines, as thesesectors went through dramatic change, both regulatory and financial. Butgiant mergers were occurring in virtually every industry (witness one of thebiggest of them all, the merger between Exxon and Mobil). Except forshort periods of market volatility, M&A(mergers and acquisitions) businesswas brisk in the 1990s, as demands to go global, to keep pace with thecompetition, and to expand earnings by any possible means were foremostin the minds of CEOs.

At the beginning of the millennium, however, the M&Aslowed. In 2002,the market hit bottom, decreasing in total volume by 40 percent. But in2003 M&Astarted its long comeback, as worldwide volume climbed 14percent versus 2002. This upward trend culminated with global M&Aactivity setting record highs, at $3.8 trillion, in 2006. Driving this record-setting volume is the return to prominence of LBO and financial sponsor-related activity, comprising 20% of global M&Avolume. Indeed, from allaspects, 2006 was a banner year for the global M&Amarkets.