Piper Jaffray

"There are still 5,000 banks," says Piper Jaffray's Chad Abraham. "We expect the pace of consolidation to continue."

Piper Jaffray and Sealed Air were also involved in dealmaking.

Piper Jaffray's purchase of Sandler O'Neill puts CEO Chad Abraham in a position to capitalize on soaring bank M&A. Vertex expands its pipeline for diabetes treatments. More deal news from AEI and Avista.

Dealmakers from Alvarez & Marsal, Harris Williams, Huntington, KeyBanc, Lincoln, Piper Jaffray, Stifel and Willliam Blair weigh in on today's M&A climate, reporting a sense of urgency to close deals now, while the economy is stable, and advising clients to prepare for a downturn likely in 2020.

Cisco acquires Acacia. Piper Jaffray buys Sandler O'Neill. Transom purchases Conair's liquid division.

William Blair's Andrew Jessen and Huntington's Karen Davies say it's a good time to sell your company. Alex Rodriguez talks about investing in NRG eSports, Ice Shaker, Jennifer Lopez. Mergers & Acquisitions will announce the 2019 Rising Stars of Private Equity on July 1.

Investment bankers, including Lincoln's Christopher Stradling, advise to sell now. Palladium, Gryphon, Thompson Street, make deals. CD&R forms new leadership team.

Insight Partners backs cybersecurity software provider Recorded Future. Deal news from Genstar, Thoma Bravo. Dealmakers advise to sell now.

FireEye buys cybersecurity company Verodin. Dealmakers advise to sell now. Angelo Gordon raises real easte fund. Morningstar, Vista, make deals.

Genstar raises ninth fund at $7 billion. GE divests life sciences division. Platinum Equity, Piper Jaffray, make deals.