Survey sees M&A on upswing

 

In an April survey of private equity investment industry professionals nationally, just more than half predicted that mergers and acquisitions will increase moderately over the next six months, with another third predicting no change.

The survey was commissioned by the Association for Corporate Growth, whose Connecticut chapter is based in Fairfield and was conducted by Stamford-based Thomson Reuters Corp.

Respondents said more equity is required to pull off a deal, with the credit crunch still impacting their ability to secure loans for the purpose.

While survey respondents see manufacturing and distribution as the best opportunities for buyouts, the health and life science sectors are expected to see the most activity.

Between a quarter and a half of M&A activity will be classified as distressed deals in which selling companies have little recourse except to sell, according to 47 percent of those polled, while another 14 percent of respondents predicted more than half of deals will meet that description.

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Windsong Brands L.L.C. led a buyout of the Carlos Falchi brand of handbags.

It was the first deal announced by Westport-based Windsong since it acquired The Sharper Image a year ago.

The new Falchi Holdings L.L.C. is based in New York City, and plans to license the Falchi brand for other products possibly to include apparel, jewelry and home products.

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Westport-based NGS Energy L.P. cut a deal to acquire from Houston-based El Paso Corp. property and assets in Arizona that NGS envisions as a natural-gas storage depot.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved last year an underground natural gas storage facility in Texas operated by NGS.
 

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Two years after Greenwich-based Brynwood Partners purchased the Turtles brand of candies from Nestle USA Inc. and formed DeMet”™s Candy Co. to market them, DeMet”™s opened a new factory in Big Flats, N.Y., to make Turtles and other sweets.

According to the Elmira Star-Gazette, some 1,800 jobseekers attended two job fairs held this spring by DeMet”™s to fill up to 120 positions.