Dykema's M&A Deal Momentum Accelerates in Fourth Quarter
January, 2019 - Detroit, Michigan
The fourth quarter was a busy one for Dykema’s M&A practice. In total, we closed 14 transactions, representing the buyers in eight deals and the sellers in six. The industries covered included liquor distribution, healthcare, automotive, technology, transportation logistics, dental service organizations and death care, and the average deal size was $21M. Below are the details on some of the more significant deals we closed.
The fourth quarter was a microcosm of the year for our M&A practice. During 2018, we closed 47 transactions with an average deal size of $24M. Our industry-leading dental service organization practice was once again quite busy, closing 11 transactions. Other active industry sectors were automotive (six closed deals), transportation logistics (four closed deals), technology (four closed deals) and death care (three closed deals).
We anticipate another robust year for our M&A practice, and the results of Dykema’s annual M&A survey would seem to support that optimism. That survey showed more optimism from our respondents—principally dealmakers and their service providers in the middle market—than we had seen in the previous 14 years we have conducted it. And though there was certainly some cooling of the economy since our survey was conducted last Fall (and considerable cooling in the public markets since then), we do not see anything that should alter the fundamental direction of the M&A market this year.
We look forward to working with you on a deal this year.
- Republic National Distributing Company in joint venture with Central Liquors of Oklahoma (Oct. 1, 2018)
- Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. in acquisition of Specialzied Rail Service, Inc. (Oct. 12, 2018)
- Atar Capital in acquisition of Molina Healthcare's Pathways Health and Community Support business (Oct. 19, 2018)
- Park Lawn Corporation in acquisition of Citadel Management LLC (Oct. 31, 2018)
- Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery, P.A. in sale to US Oral Surgery Management, LLC (Oct. 31, 2018)
- Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. in acquisition of Hutchings Automotive Products (Nov. 1, 2018)
- Ford Smart Mobility in acquisition of Skinny Labs Inc. (dba Spin) (Nov. 5, 2018)
- Atar Capital in acquisition of Microcel Corporation (Nov. 16, 2018)
- Dental Care Alliance in acquisition of Ashcraft Orthodontics (Dec. 7, 2018)
- Dental Whale, LLC in equity issuance to F3C Dental, LLC, DW Companies, LLC, Kevin Seth, and Chronos, LLC (Dec. 8, 2018)
