This Year's Robust M&A Activity Will Likely Continue in 2020

The long mergers and acquisitions boom that began after the financial crisis roughly nine years ago continued in 2019, albeit at a slightly moderated pace. After a gangbuster 2015 and very strong years in 2016, 2017 and 2018, a number of M&A practitioners braced for a down year in 2019.

However, based on initial data for activity levels for the first nine months of the year and anecdotal information for the fourth quarter, it appears 2019 will go down as a reasonably active, though not record-setting, year for M&A.