With a successful track record of raising patient capital for business service companies, PCE assisted our client in recapitalizing its balance sheet and securing growth capital.

Business owners thinking about transitioning out of their companies must consider factors that help identify and target buyers of choice.  Certainly, active acquirers that consistently demonstrate an ability to pay handsome prices, close deals rapidly and continuously create shareholder value via acquisitions is a winning combination.

Winter Conference of the Alliance of M&A Advisors (AM&AA)

“The biggest human temptation is…to settle for too little.” – Thomas Merton

Attendance at this year’s WINDPOWER conference was down, but the mood did not match. Below are some takeaways from the conference.

Currently the stock market is doing well, optimism in the economy is good, and debt remains cheap. All of these factors have created a robust M&A market for companies across many sectors with good companies achieving valuations that strong companies would normally achieve. This is expected to continue. For company owners and sell-side advisors that is great news. At this stage, when activity levels are high the smart money should strive for acquisitions that will have sustainable revenue during the inevitable downturn. This is a more defensive strategy due to its counter-cyclical nature.

In the merger and acquisition market there have been many flavors of the month, but the demand for industrial companies is the equivalent of chocolate: almost universally and consistently liked by acquirers. Industrial companies including, manufacturing, distribution and services, are a significant portion of the American economy and will remain so well into the future. At one time, the demise of the industrial sector was predicted as low cost manufacturing transitioned overseas. In recent years the demand for industrial products produced in the U.S. has expanded. Throughout these differing viewpoints M&A activity in the industrial sector has remained strong.

Global M&A deals across all industries exceeded $1.0 trillion during the second quarter of 2014, the highest level since 2007, according to Thompson Reuters.  Private equity groups and corporations, sitting on stockpiles of cash coupled with the ability to borrow at record low rates, are helping drive the acquisition spree.  The healthcare industry appears to be riding the coattails of the overall market activity. Through the first half of 2014 the healthcare sectors tracked by the PCE Industry Update – Healthcare show that 729 M&A transaction deals were announced or closed compared to only 631 in the same period in 2013.

One may anticipate a spike in corporate divestitures immediately following a period of significant economic decline as companies pull back the reigns and focus on reducing non-core / under-performing units.  Similarly, one may also expect activity to decline in the years following as businesses right-size the ship and transition into a more stable market.  Oddly enough, these expectations were contradicted in the years surrounding the 2008 financial crisis. Divestiture activity for the five year period prior to the crisis depicted consistent expansion with annual growth of ~ 3%, but revealed a change once the crisis set in.  Activity constricted by ~ 2% between 2008 and 2009 while companies accessed what to do next, but then started on an upward trajectory with growth of nearly 7% per year thereafter through first half of 2014.  In the five year period (06/09 to 06/14), divestitures increased by nearly 40% from 2,500 per year to 3,500.

The compounding pharmacy industry is ripe for consolidation and many anticipate a pickup in M&A activity. As compounding pharmacist head to Washington, DC to attend the industry insiders “IACP’s 20th Compounders on Capitol Hill 2014” summit later this month, it is worthwhile to provide insight on this subsector.