THE Note has always been wary of league tables, which investment bankers and lawyers use to tout their success. That wariness was highlighted by the latest merger and acquisition league tables prepared by Thomson, Bloomberg, Dealogic and mergermarket. Different advisers topped each league table, because of the varied definitions used. They couldn’t even agree on the value of one of WA’s biggest deals. The value attributed to the Alinta takeover ranged from $US10.5 billion up to $US12.5 billion. By contrast, the successful bidder, Babcock & Brown, said the equity value of the deal was a mere $A8 billion.
