A DRUMBEAT OF DEALS

A DRUMBEAT OF DEALS

The masters of the M&A universe have been mostly twiddling their thumbs for the past year--if they've been lucky enough to have jobs at all. Now they may be feeling that fever in the blood again. After a flurry of announcements in recent weeks, two more biggish deals broke on Sept. 28. First, Abbott Laboratories made its fourth and largest acquisition this year, paying $6.6 billion in cash for the drugs business of Belgian conglomerate Solvay. The move gives Abbott entree into vaccines, the hottest pharma sector these days, just in time for flu season. Abbott also gains a greater foothold in faster-growing markets in Eastern Europe and Asia and full control of two cholesterol drugs that the two companies already sell together. Next, Ursula Burns, named CEO of Xerox in May, wasted little time before making a bold move: The company announced a $6.4 billion deal to buy business process outsourcer Affiliated Computer Services. Shareholders rebelled over concerns that tech service is unknown territory for a copier and printer company, and Xerox's stock price fell 15%, but it recovered slightly the next day. And investors, thrilled at the prospect of even mild deal mania, pushed up the Dow by 124 points on Sept. 28, near its high-water mark for the year.

See "Xerox Bets Big on Services" businessweek.com/magazine