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The surge in power deals put the total 2007 deal value of US$372.5bn nearly
nine times above the US$43bn recorded just four years earlier in 2003 (Figure
1). The total number of 2007 deals in the power utilities sector was up by 23%
year-on-year compared to 2006. The level of cross-border activity rose (Figure
2) but it was domestic activity that set the totals on fire. The value of domestic
electricity deals nearly trebled, rising from US$73.4bn in 2006 to US$208.8bn
in 2007 (Figure 3).
The US$135.4bn increase in domestic electricity deals more than offset a no
less remarkable US$82.5bn fall in the value of gas deals worldwide (Figure 4).
In large part, the latter is not so much a reflection of any underlying trend but,
rather, the exceptional mega-gas deals transacted in 2006 when four big deals
– the purchases of Gaz de France, Kinder Morgan, KeySpan and Australian Gas
Light Company – dominated the top ten power deals table and accounted for
US$81.9bn of value. Nonetheless, there was a 25% fall in the number of gas
deals in 2007 compared with 2006. Figure 5, however, highlights the role of
overall deal numbers rather than deal values in driving the totals to
record levels.
Unprecedented deal activity in
North America, Asia Pacific, the
Russian Federation and, in terms of
targets South America, catapulted
2007 power deal totals to record
highs. Only Europe recorded a
significant year-on-year fall in deal
values although, even here, deal
activity was intense with deal
numbers maintaining the record
levels recorded in 2006. Indeed,
across the board, it was an increase
in deal numbers rather than deal
values that drove th ...