Associated Press: Deal makers from New York to London had a busy first half of the year, and mega-mergers drove the frenzy. Companies around the world announced mergers and acquisitions worth $2.3 trillion, according to figures from data provider Dealogic, the second-best half-year total on record. In the U.S., the biggest deal announced is Charter’s bid for Time Warner Cable, part of a broader consolidation among cable and media companies as technology and costs shake up the industries. The deal is valued at $80 billion. “The mega-mergers, the big deals, have come back into favor.”