Deal Outlook Is Rosy Ahead of Tulane M.&A. Conference

NYT DealBook, April 14, 2010:
Deal-makers are feeling good about their business again ahead of Tulane University Law School’s annual Corporate Law Institute in New Orleans, which begins Thursday. (DealBook will be on the ground to give you an inside look.)
More than two-thirds of top bankers and lawyers who orchestrate mergers and acquisitions believe that deal-making activity will rise again, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Brunswick Group, a corporate communications firm.
That’s a big change from last year’s results, in only 29 percent of respondents forecast signs of recovery within 18 months.
“This year’s results reveal a substantial change in sentiment in the M.&A. world and advisors appear to be quite optimistic that the deal activity we’ve seen in the first quarter of the year will continue and potentially accelerate during the remainder of 2010,” Steven Lipin, a Brunswick senior partner, said in a statement. “While it may be premature to sing Bon Temps Rouler, overall the community is feeling much more positive.”
While the economic recovery has certainly helped propel deal-making — as DealBook noted earlier this month, mergers volumes remain up more than 18 percent from last year — deal-makers said that psychological factors will help greatly. About 36 percent of respondents said that the confidence of chief executives and corporate boards will provide the biggest boost to deal-making, more than healthy credit markets and booming stock prices.
The vast majority of respondents said that domestic mergers will dominate the landscape, and deals involving a mix of cash and stock will be the norm.Brunswick Group’s M.&A. Survey 2010