Bowman/Hanson

In the first half of 2016, $180 billion was invested across 925 private equity transactions in the U.S. middle market. A sizable drop from the 1H of 2015.

The median asking price is up 12 percent and the median selling price is up 8 percent from 2014 to 2015

Axial reported that January and February 2016 brought the lowest middle market M&A deal volume for that time period in 25 years.

Corporate acquirers accounted for 84% of acquisition value, the highest post-crisis level

US M&A activity down 40% in 1Q

The latest buyout cycle has begun to slow, with U.S. PE deal count falling over 8% The first substantial drop in activity since 2009.

The latest U.S. buyout cycle is beginning to run out of fuel. At just under $606 billion across 3,602 completed deals, PE deal counts in 2015 slid by over 8%.

A slew of smaller takeovers announced Wednesday officially made 2015 the biggest year ever for mergers and acquisitions.

PE deal counts last quarter hit the lowest level in nearly two years, with 778 completed transactions recorded. That being said, the move by PE to lower-multiple combinations was very evident, as add-ons accounted for 62% of all buyouts in 3Q, a record proportion.

2015 is likely to close a record year in terms of total M&A in North America and Europe. Yet according to our latest M&A Report, sponsor-backed activity slowed quite considerably last quarter, registering its lowest completed deal count since 3Q 2013 at 1,167. Removing the massive $45 billion Kraft/Heinz combination, total PE-backed M&A value came in at a modest $73 billion, a near 20% decline from the $91 billion PE accounted for in 1Q and a 27% drop from the same period last year.

Global M&A activity slowed for a second straight quarter in 3Q. Deal volume decreased by 9% from 2Q (26% from 1Q) and deal count dropped by 17% QoQ. In fact, there were fewer completed M&A deals in 3Q than any other quarter since 2Q 2013. The median deal size increased for a second straight quarter to $38.9 million, a jump of 8% QoQ and 16% YoY.