Majors 'cashed up for M&A spending spree'

Spend trend: Majors primed for acquisition spree, analysis finds

Stuart Miles/Freedigitalphotos.net

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Bill Lehane

 17 January 2013 12:52 GMT

The majors may be set for a spending spree on trending plays this year after cashing up in a record year for divestments in 2012, according to a new mergers and acquisitions market review.

Some $56 billion of assets were sold off by the majors in the past year while they only made acquisitions worth $13 billion, the report by Edinburgh-based research consultants Wood Mackenzie.

Wood Mackenzie M&A service manager Luke Parker pointed out that the selloff rate represented a $60 billion swing from 2011 when majors were net acquirers.

“BP led the selling pack, with its exit from TNK-BP the year’s headline deal, whereas ExxonMobil and Shell are the only majors that could be considered active acquirers in 2012,” he said.

Parker said that in the coming…

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