FX.co ★ The 10 Biggest M&A Deals

American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer announced the biggest global merger and acquisition (M&A) deal on record when it acquired Ireland-based Allergan Plc in a deal worth $160 billion. The deal is also the biggest ever in the pharmaceutical sector, eclipsing the $111.79 billion paid by Pfizer to acquire Warner-Lambert in 2000.

The deal between the Belgian brewer (AB InBev) and London-based SAB Miller, signed in October, went down as the second-largest M&A deal of 2015 and the fourth-largest in corporate history. The deal is also the biggest corporate takeover in the UK history, surpassing the £47 billion paid by Royal Dutch Shell to buy Reading-based BG Group in April this year. It also means that ABInBev would be “selling one in three beers worldwide”.

In the spring of 2015, Shell, which occupies a niche in the oil and gas industry, agreed to acquire the English brand BG Group. The cost of the transaction reached $ 81.5 billion. BG shareholders received 3.83 pounds and 0.4454 shares of Shell for each share. As a result, shareholders got about 19% of shares.

After Comcast's (CMCSA) failed attempt earlier this year to acquire Time Warner Cable's (TWC), Charter Communications (CHTR) stepped in and announced on May 26 that it had secured a deal with the New York-based pay-TV operator that values each Time Warner Cable share at $195.71, based on Charter's stock price on May 20.

Charter simultaneously announced plans to acquire Bright House Networks, the country's 7th largest cable-TV operator, for $10.4 billion.

The combination of Charter, Time Warner Cable and Bright House will create "a leading broadband services and technology company serving 23.9 million customers in 41 states," the companies said in a statement announcing the transaction.

If approved, the deal would allow cable-TV media mogul John Malone to reclaim a major stake in the U.S. Pay-TV market, a business he helped to create more than 40 years ago. Malone through his company Liberty Broadband is Charter's largest shareholder.

Dell Inc. agreed to buy EMC Corp. for about $67 billion in the largest technology acquisition ever as Michael Dell looked to leverage EMC's dominance in storage devices amid intensifying competition. The deal, which founder Dell is funding with partners such as Silver Lake, will help the personal-computer maker broaden its product lineup to respond to enduring threats from perennial rival Hewlett-Packard Co. and upstarts such as Nutanix Inc. For EMC, the combination may mollify activist investors clamoring to see more growth.

H.J. Heinz and Kraft Foods Group (KRFT) announced its intent to merge on March 25, in what will create the fifth largest food company in the world with revenue of about $28 billion. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) and 3G Capital, the owners of Heinz, will end up with a 51% stake in the new Kraft Heinz company. Kraft shareholders will receive the other 49% stake and a special cash dividend of $16.50 per share - amounting to $10 billion that is being funded by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, when the deal is completed this year.

This is the second large deal the two firms have done together, the other being Burger King's (Restaurant Brands International (QSR)) acquisition of Tim Horton's. Buffett has already said to expect more deals involving the two firms together.

In June 2015, Anthem corporation from the United States of America, engaged in health insurance, offered its competitor Cigna $ 55 billion for its takeover.

The pipeline operator from the US Energy Transfer Equity completed the takeover of its rival pipeline giant Williams . The price of the contract was estimated at $ 55 billion.

In June, the Hong Kong holding Cheung Kong Group completed a deal of purchasing the telecommunications company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. The campaign was the largest in the history of Hong Kong - its value was $ 53.1 billion.

E-commerce site eBay split off its payments system PayPal into a separate company. "Breaking off from eBay will provide PayPal with more autonomy to compete in the payments space, particularly with respect to Apple Pay and other emerging mobile wallet providers," wrote online advertising analytics firm eMarketer in a note. The value of the contract was $ 49.2 billion.