HUM Humana Inc

By STEPHEN GROCER 

It looks like 2007 may retain its crown after all. 2015 was a record year for announced deals. Then the calendar flipped and those transactions began falling apart. Now the value of announced deals last year is on the cusp of falling below 2007's level, the previous peak.

So far, acquirers have withdrawn 909 deals announced world-wide last year valued at $782.8 billion, including six deals valued at more than $30 billion. That brought the value of announced deals in 2015 down to $4.374 trillion, just $78 billion ahead of 2007's total, according to Dealogic.

Yet the chances of 2015's total falling below 2007's increas-ed last week after U.S. antitrust regulators filed lawsuits challenging Anthem Inc.'s $55 billion proposed acquisition of Cigna Corp. and Aetna Inc.'s $35 billion planned combination with Humana Inc.

Aetna and Humana said they would "vigorously defend" their deal. Anthem said it is "fully committed to challenging the Justice Department's decision in court but will remain receptive to any efforts to reach a settlement." Cigna, however, noted that Anthem had led the regulatory process and said it is "currently evaluating its options consistent with its obligations under the agreement" with Anthem, a sign of lingering tension between the two firms.

Subtract those two deals and 2015's total slides to $4.284 trillion, just south of 2007's $4.296 trillion. The list of acquisitions announced in 2015 that have since fallen apart include Pfizer's $148 billion deal for Allergan PLC, Monsanto Co.'s $48 billion bid for Syngenta AG and Energy Transfer Equity LP's $33 billion acquisition of Williams Cos.

Stephen Grocer

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 25, 2016 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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