Strategic Alternatives

John Kolz, Global Co-Head, Equity Capital Markets, Paul Betts, Managing Director, M&A, Europe and Beatrix Pratte-Ness, Associate, M&A, Europe, explore key themes shaping private placement transactions across Europe, and the interplay between private and public markets and M&A activity.

Late 2023 saw a pick-up in equity capital markets activity in financial services. Insurance and business development corporations show particular promise for 2024, while there is keen investor appetite for a pipeline of alternative asset managers set to go public. RBC’s J.T. Deignan, MD and Head of Real Estate and Financial Institutions Equity Capital Markets, and Neil Chawhan, MD, Insurance Inves...

After the tech IPO drought of 2023, what is the state of the market this year? Do software and AI companies have a path to go public? Jesse Chasse, MD and Head of Technology, Equity Capital Markets at RBC, joins Dan Nathan on the Okay, Computer podcast to analyze the prospects for a market revival.

Looming elections are likely to be a barrier to M&A deal activity beyond September. But deal activity across non-banking areas of the sector remains robust, and attendees at RBC Capital Markets’ Financial Institutions Conference suggest a positive sentiment. Vinnie Badinehal, Head of Financial Institutions, and Jason Braunstein, Head of Financial Institutions M&A, assess the sector’s progr...

With fewer, more gradual interest rate cuts than expected now on the cards, what does the remainder of 2024 have in store for financial sector M&A? And how will the regulators’ evolving response to proposed deals affect the banks’ appetite? Vinnie Badinehal, Head of Financial Institutions, and Jason Braunstein, Head of Financial Institutions M&A, join to assess the sector’s mood.

With a soft economic landing more likely, consumers seem ready to spend. However, retailers need to find ways to provide better customer experiences while managing costs. As they seek to capture extra capabilities, not least in tech, does this herald a new wave of deals in the sector? Douglas Trauber, Global Head of Consumer and Retail, and Hugh Paisley, Co-Head, U.S. Consumer and Retail Investing...

Consolidation may be the theme of 2024 for retail’s most fragmented sectors. But how will the regulatory atmosphere, the U.S. election and geopolitical tensions affect potential deals? Douglas Trauber, Global Head of Consumer and Retail, and Hugh Paisley, Co-Head, U.S. Consumer and Retail Investing, join to identify high-activity sectors and assess the external challenges retailers face.

Private equity assets have mounted to $3 trillion as sponsors maintain their grip. Will 2024 see a long-awaited surge of exits? What conditions do players need to trigger a revival of M&A and LBO activity? John Cokinos, Global Head of Leveraged Finance and Capital Markets, and Hank Johnson, Co-Head of U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions, join to explore the factors impacting the private equity M&a...

Familiar fixtures are set to return to private equity M&A. Conventional financing is starting to look more attractive again; traditional sales are poised to return to the mix. Meanwhile, cyclical industrials are among the sectors well placed to lead the way in deal activity. John Cokinos, Global Head of Leveraged Finance and Capital Markets, and Hank Johnson, Co-Head of U.S. Mergers & Acqu...

After a year of macro volatility, equity markets look set to rebound in 2024, with a return to micro fundamentals, a stronger breadth of transactions, and a new set of risks and rewards for investors and issuers to balance.

It’s taken longer than predicted, but a steady interest rate environment is laying the ground for an M&A recovery in North America and Europe. Revised expectations offer attractive opportunities for early buyers – just one of the ways in which events of the past few years will influence the shape of 2024’s deals.

There are widespread expectations that UK and EU inflation will hit target levels in 2024 – yet many obstacles remain. Peter Schaffrik, Chief European Macro Strategist and Cathal Kennedy, UK Senior Economist analyze the inflationary outlook, prospects for European growth, and how the effects of interest rate rises are still playing out across the continent

Growth is poor, labor is a concern, but inflation seems to have been punctured. Nathan Janzen, Assistant Chief Economist, Canada, examines what the economic signs herald for Canada’s future in 2024. 

Macro Rates Strategist Robert Thompson analyzes Australia’s challenges such as softening growth, persistent inflation, and a weaker labor market heading into 2024, as well as examining key swing factors to monitor and what this all means for the RBA, bond market and investors.

As the U.S. economy shows positive signs for growth, inflation, and interest rates in 2024, RBC Capital Markets’ RBC Capital Markets’ Michael Reid, Blake Gwinn, Vito Sperduto and Larry Grafstein analyze the challenges posed by consumer spending, political gridlock, and quantitative tightening.

Going into the next election, US regulators are more likely to double down than back off their focus on big M&A deals and they’re looking most closely at consumer-facing businesses. Vito Sperduto, Head of Global M&A, sat down with Andrew Lipman, Partner at Morgan Lewis at RBC’s Global Technology, Internet, Media and Telecommunications (TIMT) Conference to discuss how antitrust will continu...

From geopolitical volatility to a looming election year, there’s hardly been a more important time to examine strategic alternatives. With M&A levels below average, but IPO volumes high — what might the next stretch look like for transactional activity? And how quickly will markets recover from potential disruption? 

The equity capital market is technically open. Some big IPOs have been delivered. Yet many investors and issuers still prefer to wait rather than act. What’s holding them back, and what are the prospects for the market getting back into full swing in 2024?

Recent deals in the industrial sector suggest an acclimatization to the new interest rate environment. What are the prospects for an unleashing of pent-up M&A demand, and how do labor and supply chain pressures skew that picture?

Corporate buyers currently have the edge when it comes to M&A opportunities in industrials. Yet customized deals may increasingly provide a way for private equity to bridge the bidding gap, suggests RBC Industrials specialist, Joshua Rosenbaum.

A rebound in bank lending for H2 2023, steady interest rates, recent valuation corrections and lots of dry powder offer hope for an uptick in private equity deals and exit activity in the year ahead. Listen to the latest episode of Strategic Alternatives to learn more.

There’s a growing trend in joint ventures between sponsors and corporates as boardrooms seek out Private Equity expertise and funding to get complex deals done. In this episode, we examine how clients are finding innovative paths to dealmaking and bolstering their businesses through M&A. Listen now.

M&A transactions have fallen 30-45% year-on-year. But while the era of “free capital” may be over, sophisticated structures and a return of CEO confidence should lead to more deals in H2 2023.

With greater regulatory clarity, some transactions are becoming easier and less costly to execute, while challenging macro conditions call for sound strategy and niche structures to unlock deals.

A tightened regulatory environment is shifting firms away from large cap mergers towards smaller deals. But with over a trillion dollars on balance sheets, activity is set to pick up pace in the second half of 2023 as firms aggressively chase M&A opportunities.