ACG-Thomson Reuters Year-End '09 Dealmakers Survey Finds:
77% of Massachusetts Dealmakers Expect M&A Activity to Increase Over Next 6 Months.
Strategic Investors and Distressed Sales Expected to Lead Way in 2010
The twice-yearly survey by the ACG and Thomson Reuters reveals that negative sentiment about the dealmaking environment has not changed
during the last year, with 92% of dealmakers from Massachusetts saying the current M&A environment is fair or poor.
71% of survey respondents identified the current environment as a buyer’s market. 70% of respon
dents said the current market favors strategic investors. And, 94% of respondents expect strategic investments to accelerate in 2010. 40% of respondents are actively pursuing distressed and undervalued companies.
"Despite a difficult year in 2009, we expect that middle-market M&A activity will improve from the levels experienced this year," said
Jan Shields, President of ACG Boston.
"There are regional banks that continue to lend and there is more interest from both sellers and buyers. Both financial and strategic buyers are in the marketplace taking advantage of the liquidity within their funds or in the strength of their balance sheets."
Full release of survey available here. Survey results graphically represented here.