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.