Buy-out groups in the US are having their busiest month on record after launching nearly $82bn worth of bids since the start of May. The frenzy of activity defies predictions of a slowdown in the private equity-driven deal boom but could also signal a desire by buy-out funds to rush into deals before credit markets take a turn for the worse, reports the FT. Deals by US private equity funds this month were led by the $27.2bn proposed takeover of the wireless group Alltel by TPG and the buy-out arm of Goldman Sachs, according to Thomson Financial. In the UK, meanwhile, The Times reports that UK-based companies tabled takeover bids worth nearly £116bn in the first five months of the year. According to data compiled by Mergermarket, UK companies tried to pull off M&A deals worth 2.5 times the value of deals being sought by foreign companies in the UK in the period.
