A Summer Heat Wave for M&A

Not only does it look (and feel) like 2015 will be see the hottest year on record, but M&A too seems to be experiencing an unprecedented heat wave. Even as some deal professionals pack their bags for a requisite week of R&R sometime before the end of the summer, deal activity remains robust. By September, we could reach a trillion dollars in proposed deals for the summer, beating out the previous seasonal high in 2007.

The month of July saw a healthy dose of deals, with the average size of announced transactions topping $183 million, the highest that data provider Dealogic has ever tracked and over $500 billion total in announced deals.  A significant portion of this summer surge is being led by corporate buyers who are scooping up acquisition targets and borrowing like rates may rise tomorrow to fund current or future deals. Even those without immediate plans to buy are seeing their peers take advantage of cheap debt and taking part out simply out of the fear of missing out.

Turns out it’s been an active summer for deals on Axial as well. In June and July 933 deals came to market. The rate at which investors are going after deals proves we’re still in a seller’s market, with almost double the number of total pursued deals (1,779) occurring on the Axial network in those same two months.

In just the first dozen days of the month, new corporate buyers have joined the network to seek acquisitions across the ad tech, business services, healthcare, distribution, industrials, construction, software and manufacturing spaces. We’ve also seen a number of independent sponsors join to power their searches for both deals and capital partners digitally.

In the past, we’ve given deal professionals advice on how beat the summer slow down and tips on how to manage incoming deals and new relationships while on vacation. This year, it seems like just the opposite is needed — before everyone’s back at their come September, it could be the perfect time to stand out as a ready buyer amongst the competition. Check out these summer conferences as one avenue of sourcing new opportunities and take notes from some of the stories and leaders highlighted in our summer reading list for inspiration as you meet management teams and manage your portfolio companies.  

While historically August can prove to be a quieter month, the momentum to date is leading many to believe that a summer slowdown is nowhere in sight and that we could be headed for  one the most active years on record for dealmakers.