NEW YORK-Qwest Communications International Inc.’s $34.7 billion bid for U S West Inc. and its $11.8 billion bid for Frontier Corp. ranked second and third behind AT&T Corp.’s $55.8 billion offer for MediaOne Group Inc. as the largest proposed mergers announced last quarter in all industry sectors.
These mega-mergers among communications companies occurred at the same time as billion-dollar-plus transactions declined to 45, down from 61 during the first quarter of this year. The wireless sector alone accounted for eight of these deals during the April-through-June period.
During the second quarter, mega-mergers accounted for just 3 percent of the 2,354 transactions involving American companies that were announced, according to Mergerstat, a division of Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin, a Los Angeles investment bank. Despite their small number, however, they comprised 75 percent of the total $399.6 billion in deal value.
Although that total is well below the $482.3 billion in merger and acquisition transactions announced during the year-ago quarter, Mergerstat said 1999 could well close out as a record year if activity continues at its current rate.
