Over all, foreign acquisitions of American securities in the first nine months of 2003 totaled $539.9 billion, just short of the record $547.5 billion for all of 2002.

His acquisitions total 30,410 acres at an average price of $97.51.

Mergers and acquisitions of hospitals, clinics, medical laboratories, doctor groups with their patient lists, and other patient-care services, have totaled $20 billion this year, up from just $6 billion in 1992.

DEALS So Happy Together With two months still to go, American mergers and acquisitions in 1995 have totaled nearly $346 billion, close to last year's record of $347.1 billion.

Mergers, acquisitions and leveraged buyouts totaled $87.6 billion in the first five months of the year.

According to figures he presented, European mergers and acquisitions so far this year - before the Zeneca-Astra deal - totaled $643 billion, $214 billion of that in deals between companies of similar size.

Through acquisitions totaling more than $8 billion since 1994, VNU has turned itself into a leading provider of information about the media and consumers for use by media companies and advertisers.

In the first three quarters of 1987, Fed data show that stock acquisitions exceeded sales by an annual rate of $53 billion, while net acquisitions of fixed-income assets totaled $548 billion.

Later acquisitions totalled more than 150 estates.