The value of cancelled merger deals for this quarter is closing in on the value of deals actually completed and the two measures will draw level if the mammoth takeover of Canadian telecommunications group BCE falls through.
With BHP Billiton dropping its bid for Rio Tinto last week, the dollar value of merger deals cancelled so far this quarter rose to $322bn, data from Thomson Reuters show. This compares with a total of $362bn in M&A transactions completed in the same period, including InBev's $52bn deal to buy brewer Anheuser-Busch.
Announced M&A activity is down 27 per cent in the year to date compared with 2007, and the quarterly rate of withdrawn deals has hit a two-year high.