By paying stock, Daimler CEO Jurgen Schrempp was able to finance the deal without taking on debt. With bull markets in the U.S. and Europe still raging, stock deals such as Daimler's are likely to keep driving global consolidation. In industries ranging from autos to telecom, analysts predict the merger craze will continue. As they prepare for the launch of monetary union in January, European companies are likely to be especially active. Rumors are swirling that French auto maker Renault is apt to be a merger candidate.
Finance is another area sizzling with activity.
In Europe, banking consolidation now is gathering pace as relatively inefficient institutions geared to national markets face the prospect of fierce cross-border competition. In some places, though, nationalism still interferes with the forces of competition. Consider the battle to take over Belgium's Generale de Banque, the country's largest. H. Rodgin Cohen, a New York lawyer specializing in bank mergers, says cross-border bank linkups will still be problematic, but ''barriers are breaking down,'' he believes. In Japan, longtime barriers to foreign investors are now tumbling under its Big Bang liberalization.