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Lawyers brace for mid-market M&A activity surge
Australia's legal professionals should expect a big influx of mid-market M&A activity after a “stronger-than-usual January”, according to one firm.
Emma Musgrave
According to M&A experts at Mills Oakley, mid-market M&A activity is set to rise in February as a result of a strong January pipeline and a continuation of the good levels of activity in 2016.
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“January is typically a notoriously slow month for transaction activity. Usually not a lot of new work originates in January,” said Mills Oakley corporate partner Daniel Livingston.
“Normally as a corporate lawyer, you’d start January wondering what is in store for the coming months. However, things are very different this year.
“This January our pipeline is very strong, we know exactly what work we’ve got on and we know what we’ll be doing in February and March too.”
Mr Livingston noted that Mills Oakley clients remain very active in the M&A space generally, with the firm’s corporate team recording “record deal flow” in the 2016 calendar year, which he expects to continue.
Over the course of 12 months, Mr Livingston predicted that mid-market M&A activity will primarily come from sectors such as consumer, technology, media, manufacturing and industrials, and mining and resources.
“Private equity funds are also actively searching for quality acquisitions,” Mr Livingston noted.
In a response to strong M&A demand, Mills Oakley has made a number of senior hires in its corporate team at both partner and special counsel level.
