While it may be premature to state that the global M&A market has fully recovered, the widely, yet cautiously anticipated upswing in worldwide M&A activity continues to unfold. Although there are still a number of unsettling factors that could lead to a quick reversal of the current dealmaking landscape, M&A is clearly on the rebound. According to Thomson Reuters, worldwide M&A activity improved in 2010 to US$2.4 trillion, a 23 per cent increase from the previous year and by far the healthiest movement since 2007 before the recession and the credit crisis. Notable for both size and global diversity, the leading transactions of 2010, including the US$27 billion deal for Mexico’s Carso Global Telecom by America Movil, the US$25 billion purchase of US-based GDF Suez International by International Power PLC and the US$22 billion purchase of Qwest Communications by Century Link, signalled a widespread return of confidence that has been lacking in the recent past.