NEW YORK (AP) - Latin American mergers and acquisitions have leapt in 2006, as investors take stock after a decade of privatizations and market liberalization and opt to buy, sell or reorganize their local assets.

Latin American acquisitions have totaled $68.6 billion in 433 deals so far this year, more than three times the $20.2 billion registered in the same period of 2005, according to Dealogic. This year's numbers look set to match the boom of 1998-2000, when deals topped $100 billion per year.

"There has been a continued improvement of the overall economic profile of the region, combined with an incredible rally of stock exchanges in all countries," said Alexandre Bettamio, managing director and head of investment banking in Brazil for Swiss bank UBS.

So far this year, UBS leads the league chart of advisers on mergers and acquisitions, with $23.3 billion in 13 deals, while JPMorgan Chase & Co., which topped the table in full-year 2005, has advised on 22 deals worth $19.5 billion.

For the better part of a decade, investors have plowed billions of dollars into revamping decrepit former state-owned companies and building up new private-sector powerhouses. As the dust now settles, a clearer picture of the winners and losers is prompting consolidation.

"It's a combination of strong local companies and well-capitalized funds that are investing in emerging markets and buying these assets from strategic players that decided Latin America is no longer part of their core strategy," said Nicolas Aguzin, head of Latin America investment banking for JPMorgan Chase.

A bull run in local stock markets attracted investors' attention, and more liquid stock markets for the first time offered a feasible, almost reliable, exit for private investments -- though the recent downturn may dampen some of the enthusiasm.

"With the choppiness in the equity market we will probably see less activity in the second half. But a lot of deals got underway during the first half, and their momentum will continue," said Aguzin.

The most active sector this year is telecommunications, with $24.4 billion in 29 deals, followed by financial services companies, with $13.1 billion in 34 deals, according to Dealogic.

The data is distorted by the large number of restructuring operations undertaken in 2006, most of which are designed to streamline complicated ownership structures.

The largest deal so far this year involves Brazilian telecommunications firm Tele Norte Leste SA, known as Telemar. The firm's owners unveiled plans to dissolve the pact through which they exercise control in a transaction valued at $11 billion.

The second largest deal, according to Dealogic, saw Telecom Italia reorganize its Brazilian holdings, using former state-run mobile telephone company TIM Participacoes SA to buy control of its local start-up unit TIM Celular SA, in a deal worth $5.4 billion.

It is no coincidence that these restructurings are concentrated in Brazil, where the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, or Bovespa, has emphasized corporate governance and protection of minority investors. But it's a trend that's increasingly taking hold across the region.

"The market will continue pushing to have more of those deals,' said UBS' Bettamio.

When it comes to the stricter definition of M&A, much of the selling has been led by multinational corporations that established beachheads in Latin America, but then failed, for a variety of reasons, to advance.

Verizon Communications Inc. recently agreed to sell its assets in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela to Mexican telephone companies Telefonos de Mexico and America Movil, in a combined transaction valued by Verizon at about $4 billion. When the deal was announced in April, Verizon's chairman, Ivan Seidenberg, said the businesses "represent a small part of our revenue base that is less aligned with our core business focus and future growth."

That deal also confirms the telephone group controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim as one of the most formidable Latin American entities, with operations across 16 countries in the region, many of which were picked up at bargain prices from owners looking to jump ship.

Other similarly well-capitalized companies from the region are also on the acquisition trail, and are increasingly able to move beyond Latin America, such as Buenos Aires bellwether Tenaris SA, a maker of steel tube which earlier this year agreed to acquire U.S. rival Maverick Tube Corp. for $3.19 billion.

"We'll continue seeing some of the well-capitalized Latin American companies looking at investments in foreign countries. There are a lot of local companies looking outside the region for expansion," said JPMorgan's Aguzin.

It's not just strategic players that are rolling around the shopping cart. Financial investors, including hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity investors and banks are all sizing up opportunities.

In May, a consortium of private-equity and hedge-fund managers led by Ashmore Investment Management Ltd. agreed to acquire Enron Corp.'s international assets, many of which are located in Latin America, for close to $2 billion. In June, Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and partners agreed to acquire Chilean electricity transmission company HQI Transelec Chile SA for about $1.6 billion, in a deal which also saw Scotia Capital and HSBC Bank chip in $600 million debt financing.

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