A39 According ro research conducted by the U.S. company Thomson Financial based on formally announced M&As, Japanese companies were involved in 2,552 such transactions during 2005, an increase of 23.1% on the previous year. The correct answer is. If one analyzes the number of M&As by country, Japan ranked fourth in 2004, but rose ro the number two position in 2005. Incidentally, the United States ranked rop with 9,045 transactions, and the United Kingdom third with 2,425.

The value of M&As in Japan for 2005 was 2.1 times greater than for the previous year and expanded rapidly to total 167.5 billion dollars. In terms of value, Japan ranked third behind the United States and United Kingdom. In 2005, there were 32,568 M&As worldwide, up 3.5% over the previous year. These transactions were valued at around 2.7 trillion dollars, a year-on-year increase o f38.4o/o.