Study says M&A in 2008 could produce good value

The credit crunch has pounded the merger and acquisitions business this year as the volume of deals has slowed, but a new study suggests that that the deals that do get done this year will likely produce better returns that ones done in previous years.

May 20 - MarketWatch - The study from Towers Perrin and London's Cass Business School analyzes three recent multi-year M&A cycles. It concludes that deals done in the year immediately following the peak year of an M&A cycle produce better returns than those done during the upswing and the peak year.

"This latest research shows that, on average, and based on the last two merger waves, deals done in the year following the peak create more shareholder value than those completed during the upswing and peak years of the wave. It appears that 2007 was the peak year of the current merger wave," said Mark Arian, the co-leader of Towers Perrin's global M&A consulting practice. Read More.