| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The effects of the credit crunch are starting to take a toll on the middle market as dealmaking under $1 billion has started to slow.
Citing data from middle-market investment bank Robert W. Baird & Co., The New York Times reports that: In March, there were a total of 211 announced middle-market deals, defined by Baird as those valued under $1 billion. That's a 36.1% drop from March 2007, and 35% below the average for each of the last 12 months..The dollar amount of middle-market deals has fallen as well. In March, that figure was $24 billion, a 23.6% drop from the same month a year ago. By way of comparison, monthly middle-market deal volume averaged $33.1 billion over the last 12 months. The middle market has weathered the slowdown far better than deals of $1 billion or larger, with dealmaking most robust in the lower middle market, but the effects of tight credit are being felt there as well. The Deal's Demitri Diakantonis writes: The bad news is that the number of lower middle-market deals appears to have peaked in the fourth quarter of 2007, when 547 transactions were announced with a total value of more than $12.4 billion, according to Dealogic. Still the middle market as a whole should continue to avoid locking up, due to the fact that smaller middle-market deals are easier to finance. Lower midmarket deals usually require only three to five lenders, and upper middle-market deals -- those in the $500 million and higher range -- get done with at least five lenders. The climate for deals in the middle market will be the subject of a panel discussion at The Deal's Fifth Annual Private Capital Symposium on May 14. Panelist will include James Epstein, a partner at Pepper Hamilton; Marc Kramer, a managing director at Fenway Partners; Steven Rattner, managing director at DLJ Merchant Banking; and Adam D. Sokoloff, head of the financial sponsors group at Jefferies & Co. - George White See story from The New York Times See Dealscape post on middle market See more on the Private Capital Symposium CategoriesContributed content from Middle market video
Categories
Blog roll
Archives
| |||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
©Copyright 2009, The Deal, LLC. All rights reserved. Please send all technical questions, comments or concerns to the Webmaster.
