"Buyouts rise as firms prepare for good times" from South China Morning Post

"Typical is Caterpillar's announcements on Monday that it will buy Bucyrus International for US$7.6 billion. Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, was sitting on US$2.3 billion in cash at the end of the third quarter. The acquisition allows Caterpillar to add to its line of mining equipment, which is in high demand in emerging markets.

Just last week Chevron Corp. said it would buy natural gas producer Atlas Energy for US$4.3 billion, giving the oil company at entry into the rich gas fields in the eastern part of the United States.

Among the other deals in the past three months, Dove soap maker Unilever bought the VO5 haircare company Alberto-Culver for US$3.7 billion, and Southwest Airlines bought AirTran Holdings for US$1.4 billion. Drug giant Pfizer bought pain medication maker King Pharmaceuticals for US$3.6 billion and Google bought BlindType, a startup that corrects sloppy typing on mobile phones for an undisclosed price.

The deals are happening, in part, because companies have amassed a record US$1.84 trillion in cash as of June 30, according to the Federal Reserve. That was 18 per cent more than a year earlier."