Mergers and acquisitions: global prospects for growth
Mergers and acquisitions: global prospects for growth
Backed by stronger credit and equity markets going into 2011, privately held businesses (PHBs) show renewed confidence about their M&A plans as the global economy gradually emerges from the downturn..
Grant Thornton International, through its International Business Report (IBR), has been surveying the views of PHBs for 19 years. Its latest study, conducted in December 2010, reveals that 34 per cent of the 6000 respondents across 39 economies are planning acquisitions, an increase of eight percentage points on last year. At a time of improving economic and financing conditions, PHBs are again looking towards acquisitions as they shift their mindset from survival to strategic growth.
Ambitious businesses now sense that the combination of a more stable global economy and receptive vendors is generating interesting acquisition opportunities. Furthermore, private equity buyers, with substantial capital to invest are also showing a strong appetite for deals. Indeed, Grant Thornton member firms are reporting a definite revival in M&A activity, a change evident both in the number of transactions being completed and in a general shift in mood, suggesting the pickup in activity will be sustained throughout 2011.
Significantly, in a market reliant on underlying confidence, there have been notable increases in the number of PHBs believing that trade and/or financial buyers are eager to engage with vendors wishing to exit.
As PHBs return to the M&A market, Grant Thornton’s global organisation of over 100 member firms is there to offer specialist M&A advice in every important trading centre in the world.