Bulletin Trends and Highlights
- More than half of middle-market merger advisors surveyed (55%) feel positive about the M&A market overall, a slight increase from three months ago.
- M&A activity is projected to pick up in Europe, based on an analysis of virtual deal room activity on the Firmex platform. Firmex projects that 6% more European deals will be announced in the second quarter of 2022 than in the first quarter.
- European merger advisors agree. More than half (54%) expect volume to increase this quarter.
- The picture is more mixed in North America, where Firmex projects volume to decline by 2%.
- Advisors in North America are split about prospects for the second quarter, with 36% predicting increased volume and 29% expecting deal flow to decline.
- Valuations have returned to normal levels from the highs of 2021. Only one in five advisors say values are below average, but that’s an increase from previous surveys.
- In North America, three in five advisors expect valuations to fall over the next three months. In Europe, 37% say values will go lower, and 30% say they will rise.
- A recession within the next year seems likely to 61% of advisors in North America and 44% of those in Europe.
- Dealmaking is getting harder, with debt financing becoming scarcer and deals taking longer to close.
- Advisors are compensating by working more earnouts and other contingent provisions into merger agreements.
A New Forecast for Deal Volumes
Along with our forecast for deal flow in Q2 2023, The Firmex Deal Flow Bulletin presents readers with a look into changes in valuations, deal terms, and financing.
Readers of the bulletin will come away with deal volume insights gained from knowledge of virtual data room activity, as well as a grasp of what current M&A advisor sentiment is for the market for the second quarter of the year.