Meridian’s Brian Murphy Featured in Middle Market Growth Story on M&A Demand
Published March 20, 2023
Brian Murphy, Managing Director and President at Meridian Capital, was recently quoted among other industry deal makers in a Middle Market Growth story on pent-up demand titled, “Pent-Up M&A Demand Headed for Release.”
Murphy says he’s seeing renewed interest in agriculture as well as aerospace and defense:
“Investors have made a flight to quality,” he says. “They’re looking for industries that have strong cash flow, are more mature and tend to do well even if there are adverse business conditions.”
Murphy adds that M&A activity this year will also be driven by an older generation of business owners eager for an exit: “Many of these industries are also led by baby boomers. There are more sellers who want to retire. Boomers are also a source of demand for industries like healthcare. Those are secular trends that will bring companies to market.”
Murphy thinks the debt re-pricings that spooked investors and sponsors last year probably won’t carry over into 2023. He notes that financing that relies on a lot of leverage is still tricky to do in this environment, but many PE sponsors have been able to do tuck-in or bolt-on deals without having to seek out new financing arrangements. “Diligence is taking longer, and parties are sensitive to working within their existing credit facilities,” he says. “Highly levered deals are still going to be challenged, but for deals where that is not the case, people are more comfortable with where the market is right now.”
Source: The Middle Market, March, 2023, story by Bailey McCann.
Please reach out to Brian Murphy for additional information.
