Trillion-Dollar M&A Quarter Makes a Return for Better or Worse

The $1 trillion M&A quarter, not seen since before the global financial crisis, is back.

Global deal volume this quarter is $992 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that includes pending, completed and proposed transactions. That number puts this three-month period on pace to be the biggest for M&A since the third quarter of 2007 -- the best year ever for deals -- before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s 2008 bankruptcy gave Wall Street a near-death experience.