M&A activity, derailed for much of the recession,is back on track. In the first nine months of 2010, the aggregatedollar volume of global acquisitions increased 21%, to $1.75trillion, according to Thomson Reuters, with the third quarteralone seeing the most mergers and acquisitions in any three-monthperiod since the third quarter of 2008.

In the United States alone, 5,760 deals worth $595 billion wereannounced in the first nine months of last year, an increase of18.6 % from the same period the previous year. Both the volume anddollar values of deals are expected to hold up during the firstquarter of 2011. Last April 57% of executives polled by Ernst &Young said their businesses were “likely” or “highly likely” toacquire other companies in the next 12 months.