Bruce Engler Featured in the Star Tribune on the State of the Minnesota M&A Market

Faegre Baker Daniels' M&A practice leader, Bruce Engler, was featured in the Star Tribune discussing the state of the Minnesota M&A market so far in 2014. "The first quarter of this year certainly was much stronger than the first quarter of 2013," noted Engler. "In Q1 2013, we were suffering the hangover from deals that were pulled into 2012 to beat the [2013] increase in capital-gains tax rates. But middle-market M&A valuations are currently very high and solid companies are getting strong buyer interest and premium valuations.''

Engler, referred to in the article as "a veteran deal lawyer," knows first-hand that the market is getting stronger. In the first quarter of 2014, he represented Chaska based Lake Region Medical in a cash-stock sale valued at $390 million to Accellent Inc. of Boston, which the Star Tribune described as "eye-popping." The Lake Region Medical deal was part of a 24-percent increase in acquisition activity in Minnesota from the first quarter of last year.

"I wouldn't describe the M&A market as ‘frothy' yet,'' said Engler. "Not enough volume to reach that conclusion. I do think valuations are quite high, though."