- Mergers and acquisitions: The value of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) operations throughout the world rose close to 50% in 2000, according to the latest statistics from the UNCTAD (United Nations Conference for Trade and development). From USD 186 billion in 1995, they rose to 531 billion in 1998 before finishing at 1,143 billion in 2000. The largest share of these operations took place between developed countries, to the value of USD 1,057 billion. The greatest increases have been seen for the EU (from USD 357.3 million in 1999 to 586.5 million in 2000) and in the United States (from USD 251.9 million in 1999 to 324.4 million in 2000), which remain the favoured areas. In the developing countries, they continue to represents a relatively small share (USD 69.7 million) and mainly result from privatisation (mainly in Latin America). More specifically, the level of M&A remains high in Latin America, in East Asia and in South East Asia. The transactions have nearly doubled in Central and Eastern Europe, mainly due to privatisation. The most significant operations (those which have been valued at more than one billion dollars) rose from 114 in 1999 to 175 last year. These 175 super-operations represented on their own 76% of the total value of merges and acquisitions.