Deal volume deep in record territory

Steve Rosenbush

It was another busy merger Monday, with $82 billion worth of deals being announced before breakfast, according to researcher Dealogic. Apollo made perhaps the most headlines with its $9 billion acquisition of Realogy, the real estate company that includes the Coldwell Banker and Sotheby's franchises. But the largest deal was Norsk Hydro's $29 billion takeover of Statoil Asa, Dealogic says. Total M&A volume for the year is now $3.8 trillion, up 28% over last year's $2.97 trillion. It easily surpasses the $3.3 trillion record set in 2000, Dealogic says.