This week, Nixon Peabody hosted another Hot Topics in the Middle Market event with a fantastic panel of women dealmakers to discuss the middle market M&A and private equity landscape for the remainder of 2024. ?Below are a few takeaways:
- While we’ve seen pockets of robustness in 2024, the general story has been a slower and choppier deal market, with more deals falling apart due to valuation or diligence issues and deals taking longer to close.
- We’re seeing creative responses from sponsors that are looking for returns on capital, including the rise of secondaries and NAV financing.
- Larger strategics are seeing a busier market on the buyside as PEs are looking to exit. The quality of companies out there is strong, but valuations are not coming down, so competition remains from a buyer perspective.
- Observing less urgency about the need to get deals done before the end of the year and the 2024 election than we did in the 2020 election cycle.
- The deal market in 2024 has been inconsistent, while we’re not predicting a return to 2021 activity, we’re hopeful that more consistent deal flow is on the rise as we close out 2024 and head into 2025.
- We’re more bullish on the industrials/manufacturing, healthcare, and services sectors with less enthusiasm around tech and consumer.
- The regulatory landscape and continued scrutiny around US HSR and antitrust continue to put a drag on deal timing.
- Finally, we wrapped up our discussion by sharing our unique, but similar, experiences as women in the dealmaking community. There was a shared sense of community as we’ve watched women step to the forefront and take their seats at the table in this male-dominated industry.? We are so proud of our Women in Dealmaking
initiative and are so appreciative of all of the incredible women leaders in our network.
A big thank you to our speakers, Meghan Jodz – Grant Thornton Advisors LLC, Kate Loughran – Bridgepoint Investment Banking, Siobhan McCleary – Accenture, Michelle Noon – Clearhaven Partners, Susanna O’Brien – Houlihan Lokey, and Michelle Kornack – Gemini Investors. And of course, a big thank you to my colleagues, Marissa Wiley for moderating with me, and to Rachel Pugliese, Philip Taub, Greg O'Shaughnessy, and Shaziah Singh for hosting today’s program with me. We hope to see many of you at our next Hot Topics event in New York City
in October.
Our weekly newsletter is published to share updates and insights from part of our team of Private Equity and M&A legal talent
. This edition is curated by Amy O'Keefe
.
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- Even as cyberattacks continue to plague businesses, many companies don't have sufficient protections in place.
- October 24, New York City
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