Maé Videos

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) for the second straight year took home the Most Admired Corporate Dealmaker award in the pharma-biotech category. The pharmaceutical firm has executed $30 billion in transactions in the past decade, $10 billion of that coming since January, including the $6.6 billion cash acquisition of Solvay Pharmaceuticals SA in September. Sean Murphy, vice president for new business development, says Abbott will remain active in 2010, but he expects overall deal active in the industry to slow. - Suzanne Stevens

General Electric Co.'s (NYSE:GE) Duncan O'Brien says it may be several quarters before a sense of normalcy returns to the lending environment. As a result, the company's lending arm GE Capital has become more selective in its lending and will continue to shrink the business' $500 billion balance sheet

General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) has spent more time in 2009 divesting businesses than buying them. Whether the trend continues in 2010 depends on stability of the broader economy and the health of its lending arm GE Capital. According to Duncan O'Brien, GE's general manager of global business development, the focus over the past several months has been on retaining cash. - Suzanne Stevens

IBM Corp.'s massive strategic shift into IT services got underway more than a decade ago. Now an impressive list of technology heavyweights is driving harder for a share of that lucrative market. In the past two months, Xerox Corp., Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. have announced significant transactions that expand their IT services businesses. How have those deals affected the strategy of sector leader IBM? The company's vice president of corporate development Elias Mendoza says IBM is on track to meet its acquisition targets, but the increased competition for deals has it looking farther into the future as it maps its own strategic moves. - Suzanne Stevens

John Eydenberg, head of the financial sponsor group at Deutsche Bank, says more private equity firms may in 2010 seek public market exits for portfolio companies. Historically, IPOs account for about a quarter of private equity exits. Eydenberg expects that to increase to about a third next year. He also predicts an uptick in multi-billion dollar LBOs in 2010. See the video below or download it at iTunes.- Suzanne Stevens

Pete Najarian hosts this financial audiocast.