So Much Hostility!

It occurred to me yesterday that I have posted twice in the last week about developments in takeover defense practice. It made me wonder if all this anxiety is in response to real developments, or just lawyers being prudent. I did a bit of research and found it is very much the former.

To give you some perspective: in all of 2007 there were 54 hostile transactions, worth about $77 billion. These unfriendly deals accounted for 6% of all M&A activity (Thomson Reuters Third Quarter 2008 Americas M&A report).

On October 1st, CFO Magazine reported that between January and August "48 unfriendly deals had been made, worth $131 billion" (2008 WLNR 19149360). According to Thomson Reuters 3rd Q Americas M&A Report, hostile and unsolicited bids have continued apace. Between January and September of 2008, they totaled $202 billion and accounted for 22.5% of M&A.

My survey of deals announced since October first found 11 deals worth about $10 billion. Four offers were made by private equity investors and six by companies in the same industry as the target. Seven of the offers were all-cash. Three of the tenders have been withdrawn.