David Toll

Private equity pros, venture capitalists and others in the trade are optimistic that conditions will continue to improve for leveraged buyouts, M&A, and related transactions in the months ahead. According to the latest installment of the twice-yearly ACG-Thomson Reuters DealMakers Survey, nearly three-quarters of respondents (74%) anticipate a rise in M&A activity over the next six months. One in 10 predicts M&A activity will “increase significantly” from the previous six months, while 64% say it will “increase moderately.” That respondents see room for improvement is understandable. More than half of them (55%) characterize the current environment for M&A activity as only “fair.” Another 30% call it “good,” 5% “excellent,” 10% “poor.” Interestingly, nearly two-thirds (65%) call it a buyer’s market, and the same percentage believe the market favors strategic over private equity buyers.

Brit Insurance has accepted a buyout offer from PE shops Apollo Management and CVC Capital Partners, according to Reuters. The deal values the insurer at up to 888 million pounds ($1.4 billion). For the nine months ending Oct. 25, gross written premiums at Brit Insurance fell 9 percent to 1.22 billion pounds, in part due to compeition in underwriting.

Next year is shaping up as a reasonably subdued one for VC professionals when it comes to salary and bonus—at least, judging from a small survey we conducted this summer. Just one in five (21 percent) participants in our survey anticipates that salaries for partners/managing directors will go up in 2011. Three-quarters (76 percent) say they’ll stay the same, and 3 percent say they’ll go down. For those saying they’ll go up, the average expected increase is 8 percent, and the median is also 8 percent. Similar story for bonuses (for those firms with bonus programs): about one in five (22 percent) anticipates bonuses going up for partners/managing directors at their firms, three quarters (74 percent) say they’ll remain the same, and 4 percent expect a drop. Those saying they’ll go up expect an average boost of 12 percent, and a median boost of 6 percent.

Heat and high pressure have a way of magnifying the significance of flaws—a fact well-known to potters, glassblowers and private equity investors. Under ordinary circumstances a particular biotech executive might be a paradigm of ethical behavior. She could easily enjoy a 40-year career at a pharmaceutical company without demonstrating a single serious lapse in judgment. But install that same executive at the helm of a biotech startup. Have her put her life savings at risk. Then tell her the company’s prospects for raising a second round of financing hinge on the results of the latest clinical trials. Your odds of having picked the right executive for the job may be lower than you think.

Buyouts Magazine is now accepting nominations for its tenth-annual awards program, honoring exceptional majority-stake transactions, LBO firms and other industry participants. As we did last year, we’re focusing the contest on exits, rather than new deals, to ensure we recognize the industry’s most successful transactions. Applications are due Friday January 29. Winners will be selected in 13 categories, including small market deal of the year, middle-market deal of the year, large market deal of the year, turnaround of the year, and best new firm. Don’t miss this opportunity to be recognized by the editors of Buyouts for your outstanding work in 2009. Download the submission criteria here

Don’t miss your chance to vote for this year’s Deal of the Year awards! The editors of Buyouts Magazine are putting three categories up for online voting this year. The categories and their nominees are: Large-market Deal **DoubleClick (Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity) **Intelsat (Apax Partners, Apollo Management, Madison Dearborn Partners, Permira) **Norcross Safety Products Corp. (Odyssey Investment Partners) Mid-market Deal **American Public Education Group (ABS Capital) **AmeriCast Technologies Inc (Castle Harlan) **Anchor Drilling Fluids USA (American Capital) **The Cortland Companies (Cortec Group) **Wellness Pet Food (Catterton Partners) Small-market Deal **Specialty Coating Systems Inc (Bunker Hill) **Sterling Foods International (ICV Capital) **WCI Cable Inc. (Carlyle Group) You can find more details including return multiples, revenue growth and IRRs on each deal at the online voting site. Go ahead and cast your ballot right here.

Wimpy was glad for the chance to pay on Tuesday for a hamburger today. Now some buyout firms would be glad to pay 260 Tuesdays from now (five years) for a company today. The head of a mid-market buyout shop told me that he included a seller note this spring as part of a proposal […]

You can’t go to an industry conference these days without hearing at least one limited partner lament the disappointing performance expected from vintage 2006 and 2007 funds. Too much money put to work at too high a price in the early months of those vintages; then came a credit crunch that deflated those wonderfully lofty […]

Maybe you have them on your staff: Associates who spend their time cold-calling owners of family-held companies to see if they might be open to selling. These shots in the dark must occasionally hit their mark. But put yourself in the shoes of one of these entrepreneurs for a moment, bearing in mind that these […]

SCM Strategic Capital Management AG, a Zurich-based adviser to institutional investors and publisher of an annual study on partnership terms and conditions, may open an office in the United States following the launch of offices earlier this year in London and Hong Kong. CEO Stefan Hepp said that he has watched with interest the dwindling […]