1Q20 Buyer Activity
The great thing about a daily blog is that you have the forum to provide updates and corrections quickly.
Yesterday, the published report contained an error for the total deal count announced by buyers. The corrected edition is included in today’s updated article. The initial report missed a few announced deals for a few specific buyers. The revised total of new announced deals for 1Q2020 includes 21 new transactions. The updated count for announced transaction of U.S. based targets is 134 through March 2020. There have been 19 different buyers who have completed two or more transactions which can be seen in the chart below. Four public brokers, three independent brokers, and 12 private equity backed brokers made the first quarter list. We anticipate that the actual deal count is probably 20% – 30% higher than what is currently being reported. Some firms are slow to announce and will be picked up in future updates, while other deals will remain private and never hit our list.
We do expect second quarter transactions to continue at a fairly steady pace as some deals are closing in April but many others are expected to close in May and June. There has been a slight slowdown due to buyers working through the logistics of a fully remote workforce. Many acquirors are being thoughtful about how to onboard and begin integrating in a social distanced environment. Most buyers have plans to close the deals that were under Letter of Intent pre-pandemic. However, we are not yet sure what impact this new work environment will have on deals in the third and fourth quarters. We continue to sign up new clients and are having first meetings with potential partners/buyers albeit virtually through video conference technology.
Thank you for your patience and understanding with yesterday’s communication error.
Please make sure to check out Monday’s blog (4/13) which is a video chat with Joel Wood, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at The Counsel of Insurance Agents & Brokers. Joel is going to share updates on a federal stimulus and conversations happening on Capitol Hill.
If you have questions about Today’s ViewPoint or would like to learn more about potential risks to your business, please email or call Phil Trem, President – Financial Advisory at 440.392.6547.
Subscribe to MarshBerry’s Today’s ViewPoint blog for the latest news and updates and follow us on social media.
Investment banking services offered through MarshBerry Capital, Inc., Member FINRA Member SIPC and an affiliate of Marsh, Berry & Company, Inc. 28601 Chagrin Boulevard, Suite 400, Woodmere, Ohio 44122 (440.354.3230)
