Mergers & Acquisitions introduces the Mid-Market Pulse (MMP), a valuable new index for middle-market dealmakers. Sponsored by McGladrey, the MMP is a predictive barometer that measures sentiment about future dealmaking activity in the whole market as well as in specific industries.
The MMP is derived from monthly surveys of approximately 250 executives at private equity firms, investment banks, lending institutions and advisory firms in accounting, law and consulting. Based on a set of recurring questions and focused on a different sector each month, the MMP is a leading indicator for potential changes in momentum in M&A activity. The first installment shows that M&A professionals expect overall transactions to increase significantly over the next quarter and over the next year, with M&A in the health care sector to outperform the overall market.
The composite score of 82.0 for health care in the three-month forecast shows expectations are particularly high for the sector in the short term, a trend fueled by the recent enactment of the Affordable Care Act.
Over time, as providers and insurers adjust to the regulatory changes, M&A will remain robust but grow more slowly, as reflected in the slightly lower score of 80.5 in the 12-month forecast. Regulatory and tax issues will have a bigger impact on health care M&A than on the overall market.