As the Australian economy bounced back in the middle of 2020, so did the M&A markets as dealmakers returned to work with exuberance. Australia and New Zealand's Q1 2021 deal value was US$11.2M versus US$5.7M in Q1 2020 showing strong deal momentum, optimism is high for a fruitful year.

Strong domestic M&A activity, active PE firms, strategic cross-border deals and the growing importance of superfunds all point in the right direction as pipelines grow and deals get done. Challenges remain around a lack of travel and relationship building with management teams; however, the industry has proven its resilience with these issues not being prohibitive to deals getting done. Whilst many predict there might be other road bumps along the way, sentiment remains strong.

Join Acuris for the 3rd annual Mergermarket Australian M&A Forum as they unpack the year on October 6 and look to the future.

Conference website