Quarter Four Middle Market M&A Report 2020

Deal volume in the lower middle market continued its strong rebound in Q4-2020 with deal count for the quarter reaching 10-year highs. The total value of lower middle market deals (transaction value less than $1 billion) announced in Q4 was $80.5 billion – 8.4% above Q3. Deal count also increased 25.5% q/q to 3,466, and was up 8.5% from the same period in 2019. Private equity firms capitalized on the disruption and added to their existing platforms. Corporations within the same sector identified attractive consolidation opportunities and uses M&A to increase scale.