Bloomberg reported that M&A activity is on track to reach record levels this year after a first half dominated by mega deals, even as valuations reach new highs.
The U.S. and global M&A feeding frenzy continues on, as leveraged finance conditions are relatively favorable for financing acquisitions and dividends, boding well for M&A activity in the remainder of 2015. KPMG managing directors Joe Nuzzolo and Bill Welnhofer say the Federal Reserve may not put a halt to the liquidity fueling the M&A fires just yet.
KPMG’s Phil Isom and Dan Tiemann explain why businesses should consider M&A as an effective growth component to transform their organizations. The company leaders outline acquisitions KPMG has pursued over the last 12 months, showing how the deals enhance revenue and deepen client services in various market sectors.
Houlihan Lokey’s Tim Stute discusses the increasing M&A activity in the financial services sector and the emergence of non-bank buyers in the space. Stute notes there is an abundance of potential buyers in the market, but the reality is it’s not quite as easy as simply calling a group of bank buyers and selling to the highest bidder.
Mark Hafner, president & CEO, Celtic Capital Corporation, provides a personal look into the history of the company founded by his father, the reasons he sold the company to larger banks in 2008 and 2012, and why he followed his dream of returning to Celtic’s roots as a privately held company — a decision lauded by industry insiders.
In April 2013, Provident New York Bancorp and Sterling Bancorp announced they were to merge in a transaction valued at $344 million. As Sterling’s CFO Howard Applebaum explains to ABF Journal contributing editor Howard Brod Brownstein, the ultimate goal of the union is to expand product offerings, footprint and client base — while maintaining the high level of customer service for which both banks are known.
In today’s economic environment, maintaining market share and revenue are oftentimes a daunting challenge. Growing revenue — even more so. If you conclude that the acquisition route is a good mechanism to achieve this growth, proceed cautiously! With the proper planning, third-party involvement, due diligence and integration, you should be able to make it a successful effort.
The period since 2008 has been marred with economic difficulties, recessionary trends and wariness in financial markets. As a result, there has been noticeably less M&A activity. However, looking at the deals that have been announced and consummated, it appears that the transactions over the past few years can be classified as either “offensive” or “defensive” in nature.
In the following article, Tim Stute, managing director and principal at Milestone Advisors, assesses 2010 in terms of merger and acquisition activity in the commercial finance sector. While such activity has increased in the later half of last year, valuations remained low due to lack of competition from banks. In looking forward to 2011, Stute expects steady improvement in M&A activity with modest, yet rising deal values for the near term.