Merger mania is back.

On Monday alone, two announced deals alone were valued at nearly $20 billion. Both of them are characterized as strategic.

Private equity firms are on the prowl for larger companies.

Armed with near-record dry powder, buyout specialists this year alone have completed 68 deals of at least $500 million, according to PitchBook. This is more than double the 26 deals exceeding $500 million in 2009, bringing the two-year total to 94.

Research firm Pitchbook has come out with its fourth quarter report, which reviews the prior three-month period.

In addition to pointing out that the buyout market continues to improve from the depths of the near depression, it also includes a few handy rankings for those seeking to do deals.

Private equity is coming back...sort of.

In the third quarter, total equity investment in PE transactions increased to a record $40.1 billion, up from $36.4 billion in the second quarter and $17.8 billion in the first quarter, according to the Private Equity Growth Capital Council.

Liquidity is clearly improving in the venture capital market, making it easier for investors to cash out their investments.

During the third quarter, there were 111 venture-capital backed company exits, netting $6.4 billion. The number of exits rose by 11 percent while deal volume surged 70 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.

3G Capital's announced deal last week to buy Burger King Holdings for $24 a share is the latest among a growing interest among private equity firms to buy restaurant companies.

Altogether, there have been 13 completed deals this year within the sector and two others in the works-including BK, according to Pitchbook. Last year there were a total of 16 for the entire year.

Private equity firm KKR's withdrawn stock offering is sending yet another negative signal regarding the current state of capital markets.

KKR moved its shares to the New York Stock Exchange last month and was planning to raise $500 million in additional stock but canceled its plan Monday citing unfavorable market conditions. KKR did so despite the S&P 500 being up 5 percent in the last month. KKR shares have lost 6 percent since they started floating on July 15 and further declines could be in store.

Call it a victory for the venture capital industry.

Unlike other alternative investment firms such as private equity funds and hedge funds, under the new financial regulation bill venture capital funds are not required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission if they have at least $150 million under management.

Private equity deal-making activity may be making a comeback, but the collateralized loan obligation market, which helped fueled the buyout boom prior to the financial crisis, remains sluggish. That suggests we won't see a new LBO boom anytime soon.

PE-sponsored companies last year accounted for 34 percent of distressed exchanges, or so-called "extend and pretend" refinancing, since the deals extend the maturities of high-yield debt that is in technical default without retiring much if any of it. Since these companies were funded mostly with leveraged loans held in CLOs, the exchanges exposed more than 500 CLOs to 96 companies that defaulted in 2009, according to a recent Moody's Investors Service report. That means the CLO market is in no condition to support a new wave of big debt-fueled deals.

When shares of NBTY surged nearly 50 percent Thursday morning following the announcement that it would be acquired by The Carlyle Group for $3.8 billion, irate shareholders not only rejoiced over their huge sudden gains.

They also swung into legal action.