Getting Positioned for an M&A Boom
In my "Week Ahead" piece Sunday, I discussed how "Uncle Warren" Buffett lamented that he hadn't bagged a big acquisition in 2012 in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) shareholders (PDF). Buffett went onto say that he was putting on his "safari" outfit on and looking to bag some elephants in 2013 -- following, of course, his $28 billion takeover of Heinz (HNZ) along with a group of investors led by Jorge Paulo Lemann.
In my view, that's the latest signal that mergers-and-acquisitions activity will remain strong in the coming months. In a recent survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCooper, 45% of executives polled expected to plan a deal in the coming six months, be it to expand market share, build brands or fuel long-term strategic plans. As I am sure you know, once such activity picks up it doesn't take long for it to become a frenzy. More often than not it's speculative -- but, as the saying goes, where there is smoke there has to be some fire. ...543 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
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