Predictions for increased M&A activity in April held true as $20.6 billion in life sciences deals were announced in the last week of the month, with some of the largest deals focused on global market expansion. At the same time, IPO activity came to a standstill, with one company withdrawing its offering after struggling to price all month, and another slashing its price by more than half and postponing its offering until May.

The battle to acquire Pfizer’s nutrition business was won by Nestlé, the maker of Gerber baby foods, in an effort to corner the global infant nutrition market. Nestle sealed the deal by offering $11.85 billion, a price higher than analysts’ expectations of between $9 and $10 billion, to fend off rival bids by French food giant Danone and Mead Johnson Nutrition. It is the Swiss health and wellness company’s largest acquisition ever, expanding its presence in emerging markets where 85 percent of Pfizer Nutrition’s sales come from. The combined businesses will command a 10 percent share in China and a 38 percent share in the Middle East and Africa, according to Euromonitor International. Pfizer had announced its intention to sell its infant nutrition business, acquired through its 2009 purchase of Wyeth, in July 2011 and narrow its efforts to focus on biopharmaceuticals.

The acquisition of Actavis Group, a Swiss generics powerhouse, also drummed up significant interest as investors speculated about which bidder would win the company. Watson Pharmaceuticals came out on top, agreeing to pay $5.6 billion for the privately-held pharma. The acquisition will make Watson the third largest global generics company with $8 billion in combined revenues, and significantly increase its market presence outside the United States. This too was a play to grab global market share. Actavis had 2011 revenues of approximately $2.5 billion and has a commercial presence in more than 40 countries and markets more than 1,000 products globally, with another 300 in its development pipeline.

“In a single, commercially compelling transaction, we more than double Watson’s international access and strengthen our commercial position in key established European markets as well as exciting emerging growth markets, including Central and Eastern Europe and Russia,” says Paul Bisaro, president and CEO of Watson. “The transaction achieves Watson’s stated strategic objective of expanding and diversifying our business into a truly global company. Once the transaction is completed, approximately 40 percent of our generic revenues will come from markets outside of the U.S.”

Amgen made its play in Turkey, agreeing to pay $700 million to acquire 95.6 percent of privately-held Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals. The deal significantly expands Amgen’s presence in Turkey and the surrounding region, which are large, fast-growing, priority markets for the company. Amgen established an affiliate in Turkey in 2010 and currently markets two products, with plans to develop its robust pipeline of clinical candidates for the benefit of patients in Turkey, as well as other markets around the world. The deal is part of a broad international expansion strategy that includes its 2011 acquisition of the Brazilian pharmaceutical Bergamo. Amgen’s emerging market sales were $250 million in 2011, a number the company wants raise to $1 billion by 2015.

A 90-year-old company, Mustafa Nevzat is the leading supplier of pharmaceuticals to the hospital sector and a major supplier of injectable medicines in Turkey. It also has a successful and fast growing export business. The company had revenues of approximately $200 million in 2011 and has grown on average at double-digit rates in local currency over the past five years.