The M&A Baby Boom

2016 is shaping up to be a busy year for M&A activity for middle market companies and one of the factors behind this flurry of activity may be the aging demographics of the North American population.

The retirement of large numbers of baby-boomers will undoubtedly have a large impact on M&A activity as retiring business owners look to sell their businesses. Over the last several years, many reports have surfaced stating that a vast cohort of baby-boomers were set to retire and which predicted a surge in mid-market M&A activity, but it appears that the market check-out of this group has not been as fast to materialize as previously thought.

Citizens Bank in the US recently released its annual Middle Markets M&A Outlook wherein it reported the results of its survey of nearly 600 CEOs and business owners.