Mergers' value hits record high

NEW YORK (AP) -- Buyouts are having a banner year.
Acquisition activity this year is set to break 2000's record, as the total value of proposed deals globally reached an all-time high Thursday, even before a slew of takeover announcements were made Monday.
As of Thursday, the total value of proposed acquisitions reached 3.37 trillion for the year, exceeding the 3.33 trillion level of announced deals reached in 2000, according to Dealogic.
"This is merger mania," Standard & amp; Poor's Senior Index Analyst Howard Silverblatt said. "We may have a record here."
In comparison, the gross domestic product of Europe's largest economy, Germany, came in at 2.48 trillion in 2005, according to the latest figures in the CIA Factbook.
The United States remains the center of deal activity, accounting for 36 percent, or 1.22 trillion, in proposed deals this year, down from 46 percent, or 1.53 trillion, in 2000.
Most recent deals
On Sunday, the Blackstone private equity group agreed to buy Equity Office Properties Trust, the nation's largest publicly traded office-building owner and manager, for about 19 billion.
Minus debt, the deal would be the third largest leveraged buyout on record -- if it goes through -- behind the 25.1 billion paid for RJR Nabisco in 1989 and the recent 21.2 billion deal to take HCA Inc. private.