ACG: Brand-Tastic! Membership Tops 11,000

ACG President and CEO Daniel Varroney embarked on a whirlwind media tour in New York City to promote the results of the joint ACG/Thomson 2006 Year-End Dealmakers Survey. More than 1,230 investment bankers, private equity professionals, corporate development officers, lawyers, accountants, and other M&A service providers were polled last December about their outlook for M&A, private equity, and corporate growth in 2007. Varroney was interviewed live on several global media outlets, including CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Dow Jones’ “MarketWatch,” and Canada’s Report on Business Television. He also appeared on BBC TV and on TheStreet.com TV, in addition to print media. The survey’s global media coverage reinforces ACG’s growing strength as the leading authority on M&A and corporate growth, and is helping boost membership, which now has surpassed the 11,000 mark. “ACG continues to provide unparalleled value to its members,” said Varroney. “Our growth can be attributed to the strength of our brand, the record dealmaking environment, strong chapter leadership, and innovative programs. A record $3.8 trillion in global deals in 2006 is impacting ACG’s membership growth as dealmakers see the association as a vital place for networking with colleagues and discovering good investments.” In light of the record-breaking volume of transactions, dealmakers polled in the ACG/Thomson survey called the current M&A environment good or excellent (93%), with nearly half (49%) expecting further merger acceleration in the first half of 2007. “Cash, confidence, competition, and cross-border deals drove record M&A activity in 2006,” Varroney added. “None of these are in short supply as we enter the first quarter of 2007. We expect the global M&A machine to continue to fire on all cylinders in the first half of the year.” The global tally of $3.8 trillion was 38% higher than last year’s total, and surpassed the previous record of $3.4 trillion – set in 2000 – according to Thomson Financial. The number of large deals last year also beat 2000’s record – 55 transactions valued at more than $10 billion in 2006 versus 39 in 2000. In the United States, half of the top 10 deals were done by private equity firms, which have been playing an increasingly active role, fueled by huge war chests for doing deals and easy access to financing. This year may likely be the year of the European deal. Almost half (49%) of the dealmakers surveyed said that cross-border acquisitions are becoming increasingly more important to their companies, and 53% named Western Europe as the most likely hot spot for activity. In 2006, European deals increased 39% to $1.4 trillion – even more than the 36% increase to $1.6 trillion in the United States, which was close to the $1.7 trillion record set in 2000. “Dealmaking in Western Europe is always a couple of years behind activity in the United States,” Varroney noted. “As European economies gain strength and as increased capital flows to the Continent in search of new investment opportunities, European M&A is poised to take off. (c) 2007 Mergers and Acquisitions Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.majournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com