For every Jimmy Choo, LinkedIn or Skype there’s a Yandex, Baidu or Glencore – all of them companies seeking to grow through merger, acquisition or Initial Public Offering (IPO). Whether it’s aimed at building market power and gaining cost savings, or getting their hands on new sources of capital and boosting their status, more merger and acquisition (M&A) and flotation activity is good news for some in the financial sector.

These companies appear to have plenty of cash to spend, or they can access the funding to carry out their M&A plans. What does this spate of renewed activity tell us about where the global economic recovery is strongest? Why do firms in emerging markets want to float on stock exchanges in London, New York and Hong Kong? Does the rash of technology firms involved in M&As and IPOs indicate a new tech-stock bubble? Our three-part guide offers some clues.