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Acquisition Drivers Accumulate In a Market Stymied by Uncertainty.

Article Excerpt
Although the broad m&a market remains sluggish, dealmakers say that acquisition drivers are building up in a number of industries. The market downturn has forced many companies to put their acquisition plans on hold. But as economic conditions improve, many analysts think that m&a will pick up in sectors where strategic drivers are compelling and in industries that historically have been hotbeds of merger action but where consolidation hasn't fully played out.

Few experts anticipate a deluge of activity like that of several years ago, but when some degree of certainty and stability returns to the market, they predict that such industries as banking, pharmaceuticals, and building products will lead the m&a rebound. They also expect that divestitures, which contribute significantly to the deal flow, will be robust across all industries this year, as companies aim to deleverage their balance sheets at a time when acquisitions may not be the most workable, or popular, type of deal to execute.

Without pointing to any specific sectors, Steven Bernard, director of m&a research at Robert W. Baird & Co., says he expects that the m&a rebound will be led by industries where:

* There are products that people understand;

* Companies have...

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