- France: According to Fusions-Acquisitions magazine, 1999 was a record-setting year for mergers and acquisitions in France, with the total value of transactions involving a French firm more than doubling (+ 123.5%) over the preceding year, to FRF 1,870 billion. This figure covers three types of deals: i) mergers on the domestic market increased 190.5% to FRF 895.5 billion, ii) acquisitions of French groups abroad rose 163.6% to FRF 767.9 billion; iii) acquisitions of foreign groups in France shrank 12.6% to FRF 207 billion. The target countries of French enterprises are, in order of importance: Germany (31 operations worth FRF 209.8 billion), Belgium (22 operations worth FRF 148.1 billion) and the United States (72 operations worth FRF 126.9 billion).