Companies in both the U.S. and Britain have noticed that affluent American consumers' spending habits don't seem too disrupted by the economic downturn - and they've got their eyes on Saks Fifth Avenue as a way to take advantage of the group's resilience.

A series of major mergers and acquisitions - including Google's buyout of a number of small software companies and the Comcast-NBCU deal - has companies considering hopping on board with another major player to stay afloat in a difficult economy. According to the Wall Street Journal, this phenomenon may be responsible for a recent surge in Saks' stock.

The WSJ reports that the luxury department store's shares have jumped 21 percent to $8 a share, after having rocketed 34 percent higher to $8.85 earlier on speculation that a group of American and British private-equity houses are considering purchasing the retailer for $11 a share - or $1.7 billion.

The Journal also reports that luxury sales in general have fared well during the recession, indicating that white-collar workers - whose unemployment rate is only 5 percent, compared to the national average of 9.5 percent - are continuing to spend.

Another prominent merger, the United-Continental deal, was recently approved after a Department of Justice investigation concluded it did not raise antitrust concerns. The merger will create the world's largest airline.