By Zachary R. Mider Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Energy and financial-services companies may lead a rebound in takeovers in 2010 after the value of acquisitions worldwide dropped 34 percent this year, according to a Bloomberg survey. Ninety-two percent of those surveyed expect mergers and acquisitions to increase next year, the Global M&A Outlook found. Bloomberg’s survey of about 250 investment bankers, lawyers and investors was released today. About 21 percent of those surveyed expected energy companies to lead in M&A next year, while 17 percent chose financial firms. The value of takeovers dropped this year to $1.6 trillion through Dec. 15, the lowest in six years, Bloomberg data show. Gyrating financial markets and a global economic slump cut M&A by more than half since a record $4 trillion in deals in 2007. The biggest transaction of the year was drugmaker Pfizer Inc.’s $68 billion purchase of Wyeth. Exxon Mobil Corp.’s $30 billion deal for XTO Energy Inc., reached this month, may augur more takeovers by oil and gas producers to win access to shale formations. The energy industry was the third-most active in 2009 among the 10 groups tracked by Bloomberg, with 14 percent of activity. Financial companies were the most common targets this year, with 22 percent, the data show. The biggest takeovers included the U.K. government’s bailout of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and fund manager BlackRock Inc.’s purchase of Barclays Plc’s investment management unit. Non-cyclical consumer companies, a category that includes health care, were the second-busiest, with 19 percent. After the Wyeth deal, the biggest transaction was Merck & Co.’s $47 billion purchase of pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough Corp. Kraft Foods Inc. has offered $16 billion for Cadbury Plc, the London-based confectioner. To contact the reporter on this story: Zachary R. Mider in New York at zmider1@bloomberg.net

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