The last three to six months of 2012 should be viewed as a run rate for strong dealmaking in 2013, predicts Houlihan Lokey’s Scott Kolbrenner in this video interview with Mergers & Acquisitions editor-in-chief Mary Kathleen Flynn, shot on location at the ACG Los Angeles Business Conference. Kolbrenner says the forces driving transactions include: companies in the middle market are performing really well; strategic buyers have a ton of cash on their balance sheets; lenders are looking to lend; and there’s uncertainty about where tax rates are headed. For more on the conference, watch our video interview with co-chair Jim Freedman.