Tech M&A plunges in 2nd quarter

July27 - Seeking Alpha - The technology industry may be weathering the worst of the economic storms, but tech M&A is suffering. The total enterprise value of deals in the sector in the second quarter was roughly $31 billion, down 59% from nearly $75 billion in the year-ago quarter, according to a new report from Updata Advisors. There were 194 deals in the quarter, compared with 256 transactions in the previous quarter and 263 in the year-ago period. Deal pricing is also feeling the pinch, with median multiples of enterprise value to trailing 12 months revenue falling 8% from a year ago. Read More.

Survey: M&A volume at bottom, will improve in 2nd half of '08

July 22 - Baltimore Business Journal - Middle market mergers and acquisitions professionals are frustrated with the current M&A environment. But they believe the volume of deals has bottomed out and are optimistic about the second half of 2008, according to a report released Tuesday.

In its twice-yearly survey, the Association for Corporate Growth and Thomson Reuters reported that only 43 percent of middle market M&A dealmakers believe the current M&A environment is good. That's down significantly from a year ago, when the figure was 93 percent.

Nearly half of the more than 500 investment bankers, private equity professionals, corporate development executives, lawyers, accountants and business consultants polled say the greatest obstacle to M&A activity is the weak economy, the report said. Read More.

India looks attractive despite global M&A fall: Accenture

July 21 - MoneyControl.com - According to a study by Accenture Ireland, the M&A activity has fallen off significantly. But India has managed to sail through despite the global fall. CNBC-TV18's Shreen Bhan spoke exclusively to corporate honchos from India Inc and from Accenture.

According to Peter Smyth, Lead, Accenture Ireland, there has been quite a significant fall off in the level of merger and acquistion activity. The Q1 stats for 2008 have seen a 24% drop in the value of M&A Activity, he said."We saw a fall in March 2008 of 40%, so the trend is getting much steeper," Smyth said. Read More.

U.S. Companies Eye Growth Overseas as Economic Uncertainty Lingers at Home

HSBC reports findings of inaugural survey of under-researched market segment, representing nearly $6 trillion in sales and employing 32 million -- Two-thirds (67%) of senior executives say sales abroad to grow faster than U.S. -- Nearly half (49%) intend to raise international sales targets

July 16 - MarketWatch - HSBC Bank USA, N.A. announced today the result of an inaugural survey of U.S. middle-market companies, a vital yet under-researched segment of the U.S. economy. The HSBC poll which, queried 500 senior financial executives from companies with annual sales between $20 million and $5 billion, focused on the opportunities and challenges they face when expanding into markets overseas. Read More.

China Flexes Its M&A Muscles

Julyl 15 - N.Y. Times Blog - The Olympics will give China a chance to celebrate its status as a political and economic heavyweight. The games also come as the Asian nation has been raising its profile in the deal-making business.

While the volume of mergers and acquisitions around the world was down 30 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same time in 2007, transaction volumes were actually up 5 percent in Asia, in large part because of aggressive buying by Chinese companies. Read More.

Investment Bank Calls for Congressional Action on Airline Re-Regulation

July 13 - Business Wire - A prominent investment bank with strong ties to the aerospace andairline industry is calling on Congress to increase regulation of theU.S. airline industry, arguing that a financially healthy industry iscrucial to the well being of the nation's economy.

"A strong domestic airline industry is an essential component ofour nation's overall economic health, and the sector's current woesrisk further damage to an already weak economy," said Hector J.Cuellar, president, RSM EquiCo Capital Markets, the global investmentbanking arm of RSM McGladrey and H&R Block (NYSE: HRB). "Governmentaction is long overdue. Congress must act promptly to prevent furtherindustry deterioration and the corresponding deleterious effects onthe nation."

Please click here for a more in-depth exposition of Cuellar's position on airline regulation. Read more of the release

Deregulation “clearly, definitely” a good idea: an interview with Alfred Kahn

July 9 - Evan Sparks’s Aviation Policy Blog - Looking back, was airline deregulation a good idea? “It clearly, definitely was,” Kahn said, “even though circumstances have now changed abruptly and the response of the market to changed circumstances...are in a sense wiping out henceforward many of the benefits that flowed during the past 30 years.”

Why was it so successful? The answer, he said, is that it “sparked an enormous increase in competition and air travel affordable to people from a much wider spectrum of income than before...made possible by filling seats in the previous decade that had gone empty.” Furthermore, he added, airlines are providing the service demanded: “I don’t see any evidence even now that the industry is failing to provide service that is economically viable.” Read More.

M&A Volume Down In First Half of '08

July 9 - Media Daily News - The volume of media industry mergers and acquisitions fell sharply in the first half of 2008 compared to previous years, according to the Jordan Edmiston Group, which advises investors and helps broker deals involving media properties. Between the first half of 2007 and the same period in 2008, the total dollar value of deals tracked by JEG fell 65%, from almost $65.8 billion to just under $23.2 billion. Read More.

Near-term M&A activity will slow for most U.S. mining and metals companies

Standard and Poor’s suggests that foreign, not U.S. players, will be drawn to acquire U.S. mining and metals companies due to a weak dollar, economies of scale, and a need to access the U.S.

July 9 - MineWeb - Barring a deep and prolonged U.S. recession Standard & Poor's Ratings Services expect overall domestic mining and metal credit quality "to remain relatively stable as the majority of sector participants currently maintain adequate liquidity to ride out a cycle."

However, S&P analysts forecast that long-term M&A activity will slow for domestic mining and metals companies. Read More.

The Collaborative Communications Summit Health Technology Investment Forum Brings Together Industry Leaders To Address M&A Trends and Investment Oppor

The Collaborative Communications Summit, announces an exclusive summit on deal-making for investors focused on health care technology - The Health Technology Investment Forum.

PRWEB - July 8 - The Collaborative Communications Summit, announces an exclusive summit on deal-making for investors focused on health care technology - The Health Technology Investment Forum. The full day gathering capped off with a special cocktail reception will be held on September 30, 2008, in New York City.

The Forum's President, Waco Hoover said, "The Forum will present a series of high growth potential investment opportunities and address key drivers in the health technology sector affecting M&A growth. We're very pleased to be working with major industry players, providing a unique and valuable platform that fosters deal-making and M&A activity." Read More.

Private equity businesses outperform public: study

July 9 - Reuters - Private-equity owned businesses outperform publicly owned companies in terms of earnings and valuation, a study by accounting firm Ernst & Young said on Tuesday.

The study looked at buyout firms' "exits" from the businesses they owned in 2007. Private equity firms typically hold companies for five to seven years before exiting via either a sale or an initial public offering.

Ernst & Young said the annual growth rate in enterprise value for the 100 largest global companies from which private equity exited last year was 24 percent, double the rate of public counterparts. Read More.

Private equity pours into Indian media sector

July 4 - TelevisionPoint.com (India) - Do you know that 55% stake in INX Media is held by Temasek Holdings, New Silk Route Partners, New Vernon Private Equity Fund and Employee sweat equity.

Do you also know that the shareholding pattern of NDTV Networks includes Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, CSFB and eight others, who jointly hold as much as 24% stake in it.

The Indian Media and Entertainment sector has never been a hot cake among PE investors. But of PE firms are showing great interest in the sector. Blackstone's 26% stake in Ushodaya Enterprise for $ 146 million, Chrys Capital's 27% stake in Hathway cable for $ 120 million, Shyam Equities' 20% stake in Independent News Service, holding company of India TV for $ 25 million are few examples. Read More.

Media M&A deal value declines 65% in first half

July 1 - BtoB Marketing - Total deal value for M&A media transactions plunged to $23.2 billion in the first half, down 64.7% from $65.8 billion in the first half of 2007, according to Jordan Edmiston Group.

However, despite economic pressures, deal activity actually increased in the first half, with 404 M&A media transactions completed during the period, compared with 397 in the first half of last year.

The largest decline was seen in deals valued at more than $1 billion, with only four transactions with a combined value of $9.6 billion completed in the first half, down from 11 deals worth a combined $46.3 billion in the first half of last year. Read More.

Can a return to regulation fix the U.S. airlines?

July 2 - St. Petersburg Times - The wall-sized mural Final Boarding Call at Tampa International makes you nostalgic for the golden days of aviation.

There's the couple's tearful embrace at planeside (no screening lines!). A baggage handler pushing his cart in a sparkling white jumpsuit. A passenger waving while climbing down the plane's rear steps to the tarmac.

You can't blame travelers who pine for a simpler, more civilized flying experience. Some politicians and airline veterans, however, are looking into the past to pluck out a solution to today's airline mess: a return to government regulation. Read More.

Alternative Energy M&A Trends - June 2008 (Report)

From Research & Markets.com:

Summary - Alternative Energy M&A Trends June 2008 Report is an excellent source providing detailed information on M&A, Equity/Debt Offerings, Private Equity, Venture Financing and Partnership transactions in the Alternative Energy industry. The report also provides detailed comparative data on the number of deals and their value in the last six months subdivided by sector and geography.

Scope

• Comprehensive summary of Alternative Energy deals globally in the last six months
• Trend analysis of deals by sector and type
• Information on rumored and upcoming deals before they occur- Summaries of the most important deals Purchase report.

Re-regulation for airline industry pitched

June 30 - Rocky Mount Telegram - No denying it: Combine astronomical jet fuel prices with a weak economy, and the U.S. airline industry faces severe financial challenges.

But does it lose its viability as a market-based enterprise? Some say yes and are calling for a return of regulation. The airline industry has been deregulated since 1978, a move that led to the rise of a number of low-cost carriers, heavy competition, low fares and more choices for consumers.

Deregulation also has made it more difficult for many airlines to survive.

One of the most prominent people calling for re-regulation is former American Airlines chief executive Robert Crandall. Read More.

The Case for Re-Regulating The Airline Industry

June 12 - Wired (Blog) - No one would accuse Bob Crandall of being shy. The legendary former CEO of American Airlines, who is widely credited with developing the hub-and-spoke system and inventing the frequent flier program, always speaks his mind. And the aviation world is abuzz with what he's been saying lately.

Crandall considers the deregulation of commercial aviation a huge failure and says it's time to bring back government oversight of fares and pricing. "It's time to acknowledge that airlines are more like utilities than ordinary businesses," he said during a speech at the Wings Club, a cushy meeting spot for the industry's heaviest hitters. "We have failed to confront the reality that unfettered competition just doesn't work very well in certain industries, as aptly demonstrated by our airline experience." Read More.