News & Events

Corporate Partner Alan Klein was featured in an article titled, “A Tipping Point?,” in The M&A Journal’s September/October 2015 edition, which discusses third quarter results in the M&A market. While worldwide M&A reached $1.22 trillion during the quarter, just 5% behind the highs of 2007, Alan notes three significant characteristics that distinguish 2015 from 2007. First, M&A in 2007 was driven by large scale LBOs while 2015 has been dominated by huge strategic transactions, the biggest of which have come from the pharmaceutical sector. Second, 2015 has seen a decline in private equity deals as prices continue to rise and private equity firms worry that they will not be able to achieve significant returns. Lastly, what separates 2015 from 2007 is the fact that while the dollar value of M&A deals may be massive, the activity has been concentrated in a relatively smaller number of deals. While the first three quarters of 2015 have seen tremendous amounts of activity, there are signs that M&A is at something of an inflection point. Alan commented, “There is no guarantee that the deal market in three months or six months, much less a year, is still going to be as robust as it is now.”