NEW YORK (ICIS)–Chemical merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is set to rebound in 2013 after a lacklustre 2012, in which a decline in confidence and a dearth of assets for sale dampened deal-making, an investment banker said on Monday.
“It’s been a slow year with the level of confidence and activity down. A confluence of events and conditions has led to a downturn,” said Leland Harrs, managing director of US-based investment bank The PrinceRidge Group.
“Talking with senior management at companies and private-equity firms, we’re finding the brew of the pending US fiscal cliff, the US elections, the Europe crisis and China economic slowdown, are gelling together as the reason we haven’t seen the level of activity we expected in 2012,” said John McNicholas, head of investment banking at PrinceRidge.
However, next year holds more promise, said Harrs.
