North America has been the focus of nearly $2bn worth of mergers and acquisitions activity over the course of the last week. This brief window has seen game changing deals with the likes of Norbert Dentressangle’s acquisition of Jacobson and XPO Logistics’ purchase of New Breed, not to mention the merger of TransForce and Contrans. Deals like these have the potential to change the nature of the markets in which they take place and to transform the business environment in which companies operate. Ti’s senior analyst Cathy Roberson said, “This apparent uptick in mergers and acquisitions seem to be due to a number of factors including an improving economy, increasing regulations and shortage of drivers within the trucking market, a fragmented logistics market and the growth in specific vertical industry sectors.” Knowledge of such deals is therefore of fundamental importance to those doing business in the industry, without such knowledge even the shrewdest businessman exposes himself to risk and uncertainty. Transport Intelligence (Ti) runs a Logistics Briefing service to keep our subscribers up to date with all the latest developments in the logistics industry and foster awareness of current market conditions. As part of this news service Ti compiles a monthly newsletter which reports on all mergers and acquisition activity that has taken place over the course of the previous month, the Global Mergers & Acquisitions newsletter. The newsletter is comprised of news and briefs and acts as a useful tool which can be used to keep abreast of all major developments in the industry. The briefs, written by senior analysts here at Ti, help to provide explanations of the rationale behind a deal, the effect that a transaction is likely to have on the companies involved and the impact that an accord could have on the wider market. Developments in North America showcase the value of this resource and how quickly it is possible a business to be left behind without proper market intelligence. Not only does Ti offer free newsletters, it also provides specialized consulting services for those companies interested in such activity as well as, reports such as the recently published Global Contract Logistics and Global Freight Forwarding which are available for purchase for those interested in additional analysis on such markets.