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Weekly Corporate Growth Report, Sep 23, 2002

The Wall Street Journal reports that M &A volume shrank globally from more than $9 trillion in 1999 to 2000 to less than $1 trillion in 2002. Asia's share of global M &A, however, is rising steadily. Today more than 25 percent of all M &A deals in the world originate in Asia, and the number of transactions worth more than $500 million has risen 80 percent since 1997.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has stated its opposition to the planned merger of Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Sigma Co. A statement released by the Commission claimed that there was insufficient public benefit to outweigh the harm to competition, The merger would create a company with 60 percent of the pharmaceutical wholesaling market in eastern Australia and more than 50 percent across the whole nation.

The European Union Commission has cleared Deutsche Bahn AG's takeover of Stinnes AG. "The two companies are leading players in their own markets, but their activities present only small overlaps," the Commission said in a statement. Deutsche Bahn is a state-owned train operator. Stinnes is a logistics company. The acquisition is part of a plan for Deutsche Bahn to upgrade its cargo business into a full service logistics service provider.

Canadian company Co-Steel Inc. and Gerdau SA of Rio de Janeiro report making "substantial progess" with their respective lenders towards obtaining the consents and waivers required for the proposed merger of their North American operations. Both are steel companies.