From the Thomson Reuters data team:

• Exxon Mobil’s $40.7 billion acquisition of XTO Energy ranks as the sixth biggest announced worldwide M&A transaction this year and the fourth biggest US target transaction.
• The deal ranks as the eighth biggest Energy & Power M&A transaction in history and marks the biggest US transaction since Chevron’s $43.3 billion acquisition of Texaco in October 2000.  The $85.1 billion combination of Exxon and Mobil in December 1998 ranks as the biggest Energy & Power deal on record.
• Worldwide, energy & power M&A totals $330.9 billion for year-to-date 2009, an 18.1% decrease from last year at this time.  Worldwide M&A in the oil & gas sector totals $203.7 billion, a 17.2% increase over last year at this time.
• In the US, energy & power M&A accounts for 12.2% of overall activity, a 7.5 decline from last year.  Oil & gas M&A activity in the US totals $74.9 billion, a 35.6% increase over 2008.
• With the announcement, JP Morgan (advisor to Exxon Mobil), moves from fourth place to third place for worldwide merger advisors, with $467.5 billion in announced deals from 299 deals. Barclays and Jefferies (advisors to XTO Energy) rank 10^th and 21^st, respectively.
• In the US, JP Morgan remains in third place with $269.5 billion.  Barclays moves to sixth place from seventh and Jefferies moves from 23^rd place to 13^th.

Talk about throwing your weight around. Exxon’s $30 billion all-stock bid for XTO Energy puts a pretty solid stamp on the natural gas space. It also puts Exxon in a better position to capitalize on energy generation, rather than just heating houses and keeping SUV’s guzzlin’.

The world’s largest publicly traded company lit a fuse that has long tantalized M&A markets. The whole natural gas sector jumped on the news, as expectations grew that an elephantine stampede from big oil was underway. Among the gas names that went bang: Chesapeake Energy jumped 7 percent, Devon Energy Corp rose 5.3 percent, and Canada’s EnCana rose as much as 8.7 percent.

U.S. natural gas prices have been under pressure with inventories of the fuel not far from record high levels. But with the winter winds of change blowing through the world’s increasingly environmentally aware corridors of power, as well as the always heat-hungry U.S. Northeast getting deeper into the snow season, the market for natural gas plays may well have started to look overripe.

Strategically, natural gas provides Exxon with a handy back-door entry into both power generation and renewable energy markets. Wind, solar and other New Age power plays are not consistent enough sources of electricity on their own. They need a backup. That’s where natural gas comes in. It’s an ideal back-up plan, being quicker to fire up than coal or nuclear power, in the case that the wind stops blowing or the sun refuses to shine.

British chocolate maker Cadbury (CBRY.L) ramps up its targets for sales and operating margins to show it’s worth more than Kraft’s (KFT.N) hostile $16.5 billion offer. It says it has seen interest from other bidders, but doesn’t mention them . Stock markets are unimpressed — Cadbury shares are up only 0.7 percent.

In the wrangling over Saab, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp (0r BAIC) has said it has acquired some of the assets of the General Motors unit.

French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA) and Australia’s AMP Ltd (AMP.AX)  have raised their takeover offer for AXA Asia Pacific Holdings to $11.7 billion — a 16 percent rise. The two are keen to get their hands on different parts of the business. The French insurer is already the biggest shareholder in AXA Asia Pacific Holdings, and also its parent company.

For the rest of the latest deal-related news from Reuters, click here.

In other media:

Hugh Osmond, the entreprenuer behind Punch Taverns (PUB.L) and Pizza Express, is backing investment vehicle Horizon, which is aiming to raise 500 million pounds and list on the LSE’s main market in January, the Financial Times reports.

AOL (AOL.N) is in talks to sell its ICQ instant-messaging service to Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has appointed investment bank Lazard to sell its Swedish unit, while BP (BP.L) is looking to sell its French petrol stations, the Sunday Times reports.

India’s Tata Steel (TISC.BO) is in talks with investors to raise 50 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) in equity and an equal amount in debt, the DNA newspaper reports.

National Express’s (NEX.L) largest shareholder, the Cosmen family, will participate in the transport group’s 360 million pounds ($594.3 million) rights issue after earlier opposing it, the Mail on Sunday reports.