DealLawyers.com Blog

August 11, 2009

Survey: Distressed M&A Outlook

A recent survey – the Distressed M&A Outlook – by mergermarket, Carl Marks Advisory Group and Pepper Hamilton interviewed 75 investment bankers, private equity practitioners, hedge fund investors and lawyers about their predictions for distressed M&A activity in the upcoming year. The survey found that 92% of the respondents believe that the current economic downturn will offer more discounts on distressed assets than previous downturns – bringing both strategic and financial buyers to the market in the coming months.

Other interesting data points include that the majority of respondents (63%) believe that more distressed deals will take place outside of the bankruptcy court than in the bankruptcy court – and that real estate and financial services are thought to be the two industries offering the most opportunities for distressed deals. For more on distressed deals, see our “Distressed Targets” Practice Area.