Bullish expectations for European M & A.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Mergers - Brief article

If paying for merger and acquisition advice is a leading indicator of activity, the M & A climate in Europe is definitely heating up.

Nearly 60 percent of the large European companies participating in a new research study by Greenwich Associates say they engaged the services of an M & A advisor in 2005--up sharply from the 51 percent saying they used an advisor in 2004. "Perhaps even more significant is the pick-up in activity among the very largest companies in Europe," says Greenwich Associates Consultant Jay Bennett. "More than two-thirds of companies with more than $10 billion in annual sales paid for M & A advice last year."

Greenwich research suggests that European companies are likely to maintain or even accelerate this pace in 2006. In 2004, about 47 percent of FT 500 companies told Greenwich that they expected to seek out an advisor on a cross-border merger in the coming 12 months; in 2005, that proportion rose to 51 percent. Likewise, the...