Another Monday… Another “Game-Changing” Deal

by Martin Denholm, Senior Editor

Monday is Merge Day.

A few weeks ago, the market saw the busiest day of deal-making in three months, as the news-wires lit up with news of several big takeover announcements, including Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) buying Marvel (NYSE: MVL).

It happened again the following week. In fact, over a 10-day period, more than $40 billion worth of deals were announced.

And even as the third quarter winds down, the pace is still frenetic in the M&A market.

Today saw technology equipment firm Xerox (NYSE: XRX) announce a $6.4 billion deal to buy Affiliated Computer Services (NYSE: ACS) – its biggest acquisition on record.

Xerox investors greeted the news with a collective “ugh,” as shares of the photocopying and business supplies giant spiraled down by 17%. While perhaps

Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX), the world’s leading document management, technology and services enterprise, recently announced that chief executive officer, Anne Mulcahy, will retire on July 1st and will be succeeded by Ursula Burns, the company’s president. According to the company, Mulcahy will continue to support the transition following her retirement on July 1st and will be at the office full time to ensure a smooth transfer of power and also handle customer relations and strategy.

Mulcahy was appointed in 2001 after the company fired G. Richard Thoman amid mounting financial debt and losses. Mulcahy is credited with leading the document management company out of a deep financial slump earlier in the decade. This transition has been in the works for the past two years since Burns was named president in April 2007.

Burns, however, takes the top job in a period of renewed stress due to the national recession, which has severely