When two plus two equals three

The scale of the recent spate of mergers and takeovers in the sector has taken a few people aback. But should we be surprised? And are the companies involved taking a great risk if the recession drags on longer than expected? For the answers to these questions we turned to Brian O'Brien, a partner of Pricewaterhousecoopers Real Estate Nathan North, 'Eurobuild CEE':  Why has there been so much merger and acquisition activity on the real estate market recently?Brian O'Brien, partner of PwC Real Estate:?It's a combination of many things. There's still a large amount of uncertainty - but at the same time there are indications that the market is recovering. After a recession, post-crisis you're always going to see mergers and acquisitions. Companies are often too busy fire-fighting during the crisis, so when there's a glimmer of hope they tend to get excited - the general belief is that in order to come out of the recession at an accelerated pace, mergers and acquisitions act as a catalys