According to a study by the agency Thomson Financial, the value of merger and acquisition operation across the world in the first nine months of 2005 (1 957 billion dollars) is higher than the total value of the whole of the year 2004. Compared to the same period in 2004, the sum accumulated in the first three quarters of 2005 is up by 48% and is at the highest level since the record was set in 2000. The big investment funds, which are the main actors in mergers and acquisitions, are still very active, but 2005 has also seen the return of the industrial groups. European businesses have been particularly active in this increase in external growth operations (+75% in value compared to the first nine months of 2004). Eastern Europe was the prime target (+176%), and Spain and Germany had figures in Eastern Europe of +115% and +108% respectively. The increase in external growth operations was also noticeable elsewhere in the world: +37% in the USA, +106% in Japan, +75% in China and +117% in India. The consolidation also affects many other sectors: finance (+18% of transactions), energy (+15.5%), the media (+8.7%), telecommunications (+8.5%), real estate (+7.2%) and heavy industry (+7%). These good results can be explained by the priority which is once again being given by businesses to growth, following three years spent restoring profits and repaying debts, and very low interest rates.