M&A Environment in 2012

Buyers

Businesses looking for growth will continue their push to increase sales outside the borders of the United States, as domestic growth remains anemic at best. GDP growth in the U.S. is projected at 2.7 percent for 2012, signaling that companies will most likely not attain substantial organic growth if their sales base resides solely in the United States. The recent announcement from the Federal Reserve on plans to keep the Fed window at or about zero percent until 2014 illustrates that the march back to prosperity will continue to be a slow walk. While improvements in key indicators show continued progress in the manufacturing sector, ongoing high unemployment and suppressed wages will translate into another year of lax domestic consumption. This is evidenced by the fact that we are producing as much as we did in pre-recession 2007 with six million fewer workers.