Blog

There is no time like the end of a year to contemplate the past and the future… Looking backwards: major stock market indices rose this year to near all-time highs, interest rates declined to historical lows, oil prices dropped, employment improved, and m&a activity boomed. We had a great year here at M&A. Looking forward, the outlook is bright. We see no serious headwinds. As you will see in our  December Newsletter, multiples are strong across nearly every sector, and deal activity is high. My daughter sees things a bit differently. She graduates university this year and is heading to…

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Our latest Market Report is out – it gives our current sense of m&a values, activity, and trends for the dozen plus very specific sectors that we follow and sometimes lead –It’s at  http://buff.ly/1xoTW6Q. We also received a nice accolade this month. Wealth & Finance International magazine named us as a “Recognised Leader in The Middle-Market – USA” in their 2014 Finance Awards. (They spell funny.)  We appreciate the recognition. But we also want to be clear: we’re not a generalist middle-market investment bank. We’re a focused middle-market investment bank – and proud of it. We know who we serve:…

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We live in interesting times. On one hand, US inflation is low, unemployment is improving (and looks better than that of many other countries), US GDP is growing, m&a values are increasing, and m&a transaction volumes are robust. We’re busy. On the other hand, the Russians are in Georgia and Ukraine (Moldova and Estonia are nervous), ISIS is taking over big parts of Syria and Iraq (and beheading Americans), drug cartels seem to have taken over big parts of Mexico, Boku Haram is kidnapping young girls in Nigeria, Hamas and Israel are threatening to restart missile strikes, Libya, Iraq and…

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In the first seven months of this year we helped five entrepreneur-led firms achieve full or partial liquidity – it’s an integral part of what we do. (We also advised Goldman Sachs and Blackstone on a very large purchase of Ipreo; as well as advising another PE firm; a couple of VC-backed firms; and a public corporation. But those are other stories. This is about entrepreneurs.) Entrepreneurs have a wide range of factors that drive them to transact. (We never push. Our philosophy is: if you are growing, cash flow positive and having fun, why sell? But they do sell.)…

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The New York Times had a front page article this week – headlined “Welcome to the Everything Boom, or Maybe the Everything Bubble.” A week earlier Reuters had an article headlined “Global M&A at a seven-year high as big corporate deals return”. The 10 year average P/E of the S&P composite is at levels not seen since 2000. Are we in a bubble? Read our thoughts in our July market update: http://lnkd.in/dKR9w_W