A Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) report titled Mining Deals 2007 says even though 2007 was a record year for deals, dramatic changes will continue in 2008 due to ongoing strength in the mining M&A market and consolidation among all sizes of company as well as increasing vertical integration in the industry with upstream moves by power and metal companies.

It says Chinese, Russian and Indian companies are playing an ever-increasing role and that the biggest companies are achieving super-consolidated global scale.

Owing to skills shortages, record exploration costs and permitting taking longer than ever companies are seeking development projects to achieve scale and diversify their portfolios in commodities and geography. They can do so due to their huge buying power as a result of high commodity prices and buoyant market capitalizations.

According to the report 2007 was a record year for deals with 1732 concluded in the mining sector globally worth $159 billion. The number of deals was 69% higher than in 2006 while the value was 18% higher. A new deal record was set when Rio Tinto acquired Alcan for $43 billion.

There was no evidence of any slowdown in activity as a result of the credit crunch and in the fourth quarter of 2007, 510 deals were announced, more than double the number in the same period in 2006.

In the oil and gas sector there were 893 deals in 2007 worth $292 billion with the number of deals down 2% and the value unchanged. In the power sector there were 768 deals, up 23%, with a value of $373 billion, up 25%.

The value of deals in the Asia Pacific increased by 216%, in Africa by 38% and in the Russian Federation by 16% while in North America the value decreased by 7%.

The base metal sector contributed 41% of the total global mining deals and was down 21% on the 2006 figures. The diversified metals sector contributed 28% and was up by 297% while the other metals sector, including coal and uranium, contributed 18% and was up 194%. Precious metals contributed 13% and was down 32% on 2006.

Although the value of deals in North America fell after the mega-mergers of 2006 it remains the primary focus for deal-making, accounting for 49% of the business. The Asia Pacific was the main motor for growth in 2007 where the value of M&A deals increased by $24 billion fuelled by intense competition for Australian resources.

Deals by Chinese and Russian companies have increased six-fold in two years to $33 billion, accounting for 21% of global deal activity. The second largest deal worldwide in 2007 was UC Rusal's $13 billion investment of a 25% stake in Norilsk Nickel. Others included Norilsk's $5.4 billion cash purchase of LionOre and Chinalco's $789 million purchase of the Canadian company Peru Copper.

The report says 2008 will see further records in the value of deals as super-consolidation takes place. The tone has been set by BHP's takeover offer of $150+ billion for Rio, rumours of a potential $90 billion bid by Vale for Xstrata, and by Chinalco and Alcoa's acquisition of a $14 billion (12%) stake in Rio.

It concludes that consolidation still has a long way to run and says there is considerable scope for deal-making in sectors such as copper, lead and zinc, and gold in China.

It also says the struggle that exploration companies are experiencing to gain funding may open the door to friendly deals with big mining companies or end users wishing to secure inputs, while a spate of hostile offers may also follow recent stock market falls, which have made some targets cheaper.