Distribution and reasons explaining mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the EU countries and the US

The M&A phenomenon has more than one century and has reached a particular highlight as the previous millenium went away. In fact, several mega operations occurred in the late nineties, particulary between 1998 and 2000, and it was very well widespread by worldwide media. The growing importance and dimension of the capital markets and also new business strategies seem to provide a major role for business combinations in a more global economy. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the M&A distribution among EU countries and the US. To achieve that we used several data, such as M&A activity and market capitalization, from 1990 to 1999. We also present some reasons that could explain the evolution of M&A activity in the EU in the nineties. The methodology used in the study is based on the regression model and in the 2000 European Comission M&A report.Instituto Politécnico de Braganç