Can Vodafone pull it off once again? In January, the aggressive British mobile phone company punched in the right numbers and made a record $65 billion swoop on AirTouch Communications. Now, the newly-enlarged Vodafone-AirTouch is doubling the stakes and bidding $120 billion for Mannesmann, one of the jewels of German industry.
How times change. Back in the 80s, the takeover artists Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts burst onto the frontpages with their $25 billion bid for RJR Nabisco. KKR's bitterly contested takeover battle was a milestone in corporate history and was turned into the bestselling Barbarians at the Gate. These days $25 billion buys only a footnote in the corporate history books.
A tidal wave of billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions has been sweeping across Europe and North America and it is washing away all the records. In the US, pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer, which is getting a boost from its wonder drug, Viagra, has just launched a $75 billion assault on Warner-Lambert, which was itself hoping to gobble up American Home Products. Since January there have 10 megadeals worth more than $10 billion each. America's top three investment banks have been the midwives for deals worth more than $1 trillion.
Out in the forefront are the hi-tech newcomers like Vodafone and a clutch of telecommunications companies which are racing for the top spots in a crowded industry. But almost everyone else in the corporate world is following in the same direction. In the oil industry, for instance, Britain's BP hit a gusher and struck-up a
