Equity funds demonstrated hectic activity this year, with the volume of announced deals hitting $294 billion, according to the data supplied by Dealogic. This is a 60% increase from 2003. Last year was also noted for record activity with a 39% increase from $133 billion to $185 billion.

The resale of stocks from one fund to another reached $61 billion, a 155% surge from last year.

The rise in activity is explained by unprecedented activity in the global markets that allowed funds to attract funds for the acquisition of large equity stakes. After acquiring these stakes, funds set out to restructure companies of different sectors, ranging from satellite and pharmaceutical to entertainment and health care corporations.

The largest markets for stock funds are traditionally the US and UK, where transaction volumes reached $126 billion и $57 billion respectively. Germany takes the third place with $27 billion, marking a 31% rise in production.

The biggest deal of last year was the purchase of the satellite operator Intelstat by a group of funds.
Funds also engaged in selling their stakes during IPOs, with the largest transactions performed when the famous search engine Google, telecommunications holding Eircom and Australian apparel maker Pacific Brand went public.

Warburg Pincus, one of the world’s leading stock funds revealed plans to form another fund with $8 billion in assets that will be the largest in the world.

Stock funds can turn into the driving force in the market for mergers and acquisitions as they acquire companies with the purpose of reselling them later.