Putting Globalization and Concentration in the Agri-food Sector into Context

Current Agriculture, Food & Resource Issues

acquisition of Honeywell International. However, the recent crash in technology stock
prices dramatically alters the valuations of deals during the 1998-1999 period.

Most merger and acquisition activity has been national but that is changing.

There is a strong preference for national mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the
United States, where more than 90 percent of the transactions in figure 5 occurred
between U.S. firms. However, the number of foreign acquisitions is increasing as
companies seek new markets and growth opportunities. Both concentration and
globalization are patently apparent at the retail level. In the United States, the top ten retail
chains had combined sales of US $262 billion in 1992 compared to $492 billion in 1998.
In 1992, those chains each operated in an average of 4.8 countries compared to the

□ Canadian disposition of foreign asset

□ number of Other-Can transactions

□ number of Can-Other transactions

□ number of US-Can transactions

□ number of Can-US transactions

□ number of Can-Can transactions

Figure 6 Number and nationality of Canadian food-sector acquisitions, 1996-2000

Source: Annual Directory of Mergers and Acquisitions in Canada, 1996-2000 (excludes farms)

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