DealZone

BHP Billiton struck a deal to buy shale gas reserves from Chesapeake Energy for $4.75 billion, pitting itself against oil giants and China in the battle for the fast-growing energy source in North America.

China should account for 8-9 percent of global mergers and acquisition activity this year, continuing close to its strong levels in 2009 and 2010, JPMorgan’s head of China M&A said Tuesday.

Europe is braced for a flurry of stock market listings in the next two months as firms use annual results as launching pads for share sales — and hope to complete deals before investors disappear for the Easter break.

Hedge funds are betting the current environment in Japan is ideal for strategies such as event-driven and long/short, given that many companies are trading at low valuations and funding is cheap — optimal conditions for M&As.

The possibility of any imminent mergers or significant tie-ups involving the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges looks remote given both are directly controlled by the government.

Wall Street wisdom suggests investors who turn away juicy takeover offers end up losing out. Yet some recently aborted deals haven’t turned out so badly for shareholders of the targets, reports Reuters Breakingviews.