Dow Jones – Hedge funds look set to take center stage as European merger-and-acquisition activity starts to pick up after a long drought and as bets on winning prices and bidders trigger dramatic rises in the stock price of target companies.
Just Monday, shares in TNT Express NV (TNTE) surged 60% after it rejected United Parcel Service Inc.’s (UPS) EUR4.9 billion takeover offer late the previous week and investors speculated that any eventual deal with either UPS or another suitor would be done at a much higher price.
