The tide has certainly shifted for dealmaking. Billion-dollar deals have become less common, and even middle-market deals, which increased during the second half of 2007, have also declined compared to its breakneck pace last year. Nonetheless, last week, all of the top 10 domestic deals were in the midmarket range. Call it a coincidence. Call it the aftereffects of the tightening credit markets for buyout shops. Or possibly, maybe companies are just shrewdly cherry picking assets in a down market. Whatever the reason, for one week the middle market was bulging once again, carried along by food deals.
Brazilian meat packaging company JBS SA topped the charts with the two biggest domestic deals, picking up National Beef Packing Co. LLC for $970 million and Green Bay, Wis.-based Smithfield Beef Group Inc., which Continental Grain Co. operates through a 50-50 joint venture with Smithfield Foods Inc., for $560 million. Those deals weren't the only food transactions: Vivartia SA acquired Tulsa, Okla.-based cookie and snack company Nonni's Food Co. for $320 million on March 6.
Overall, the top 10 domestic deals came from a variety of sectors that also included health insurance, energy and education. Maybe that's a sign of better things to come, hinting at a broader recovery that could jump-start the economy. - Gerald Magpily
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