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Avis Budget has increased its offer for Dollar Thrifty, firing the latest salvo in its bidding war for Dollar with archrival Hertz. It's a familiar pattern in the world of mergers and acquisitions, and the data shows that interlopers like Avis often a better chance of taking home the prize.

Giant U.S. pharmaceutical group Abbott Laboratories is cutting 3,000 jobs, or about 3% of its workforce, following its purchase of Belgian-based Solvay's drugs business.

Shares of software security companies are rising as investors hope to cash in on growing M&A activity. One the heel's of Hewlett-Packard's decision to acquire ArcSight, here are three other companies that could be future take-over candidates.

HP is close to a deal to buy security software maker ArcSight (ARST). The transaction would be worth about $1.5 billion, or a little more that $43 a share. That's a 24% premium over where ArcSight's shares traded on September 10.

3M is hungry for deals. Last month it bought Cogent and Attenti, and today it announced its purchase of Arizant for $810 milllion. It's deal-making may be a good sign for corporate America.

After Hewlett-Packard edged out Dell to acquire 3Par, speculators now wonder if the computer maker could be targeting another data storage company, perhaps Brocade.

Burger King (BKC), the nation's No. 2 burger chain, is reportedly in talks with private equity firms over a possible sale. Earlier today, The Wall Street Journal reported that one likely buyer is 3i Group, a U.K.-based buyout firm. But a recent report from New York Times says 3i is not courting...

After a couple of fairly sleepy years, mergers and acquisition activity has bounced back dramatically, with potential long-term consequences for the stock market. It's a rare ray of hope at a time when other economic indicators are pointing straight toward the floor.

Hewlett-Packard raised the stakes once again in its bidding war with Dell over data-storage company 3Par, offering $1.8 billion and topping Dell's own higher bid made earlier in the day.

The battle is heating up. After a $1.6 billion counteroffer from Hewlett-Packer Monday, Dell is said to be preparing a sweetened bid for data storage provider 3Par.