KPMG named Australia’s best mid-market M&A advisor
The KPMG Corporate Finance has been named Australia’s leading mid-market financial M&A advisor by Mergermarkt, at its annual Australia M&A Awards ceremony held last week.
Globally, Mergermarket – a platform dedicated to the world of mergers & acquisitions – organises several M&A Award competitions, aimed at recognising excellence in the industry and placing top performing M&A firms and dealmakers in the spotlights.
In Australia, a total of 21 M&A Awards were handed out, to the likes of investment banks Goldman Sachs and UBS, law firms Gilbert + Tobin, Hamilton Locke, Herbert Smith Freehills and King & Wood Mallesons, and private equity groups Affinity Equity Partners and Brookfield Asset Management.
The award for financial services in the mid-market M&A space (between AU$10 million and AU$250 million) went to KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting and consulting firms. The firm’s Corporate Finance division supports clients with a full range of corporate finance, merger & acquisition and transaction advisory services, serving both large as well as mid-market companies. KPMG's M&A advisors help corporations and private equity clients identify and set up transactions and then take them to successful completion.
Leaders in KPMG’s Corporate Finance division include Peter Turner (Melbourne), Greg Evans (Perth), Sam McClure (Melbourne), Brendan Larsen (Brisbane), Matthew Kelly (Perth), Craig Mennie (Sydney) and Angus Reynolds (Melbourne).
KPMG thanked its top spot to two main factors – the professional services and consulting firm is one of the most active mid-market dealmakers in Australia, and the quality of its deals work scored strongly in a qualitative judgment by an industry panel of nine independent M&A experts.
Australia’s mid-market M&A
The mid-market segment is across the board the powerhouse space of Australia’s mergers & acquisitions landscape. According to data from Mergermarket, dealmaking value in 2018 amounted to AU$164 billion, a record and up 5% on the year previous. Around 70% of all deals fell in the mid-market territory.
In 2019, Australian M&A is forecasted to enjoy another stellar year, and the mid-market continues to be the engine driving this ascent. Deal activity is driven by several trends. A favourable environment of low interest rates and strong corporate balance sheets is prompting local strategic bidders and cashed-up private equity firms to complete M&A transactions as they search for growth and stable returns. Foreign investors, particularly those from North America, are throttling up investments as Australia continues to be a beacon of stability in a region rife with volatility and geopolitical unrest.
