A New Look at a Turn in the Market

With this issue, we’re celebrating our fourth anniversary as a monthly publication. What better time to shake things up – and that we’ve done! We’ve not only given M&A a more reader-friendly look but also have added a number of new features that will enable the magazine to increase its relevance as a monitor of the most critical trends in the deals market. M&A will now regularly report key statistical data on pricing trends for done deals – in the “Paying Up” feature – and address heavyweight issues in valuing targets – in “Eye on Value.” “Game Plan,” another new section, outlines the m&a strategies of serious buyers. We expect to add more detail to the new material on a continual basis, and we’re constantly on the hunt for additional topics that can be sectioned off to demonstrate importance. You can help by letting us know what additional information we can serve up that would help you buy and sell more effectively and more profitably. The past three years have not been the easiest time for m&a pros. Deal volume has been tepid, but a major deal here and there sparks hopes for an upturn. So do an improved economic tone, easier financing, and a gradual return of managerial confidence in big commitments like m&a. The market is not out of the woods yet but appears to be going in the right direction. It’s enough to make me more comfortable writing about what’s happening in the market now than I did in the desultory period a year ago. Martin Sikora Editor