By George H. Reddin
Uncertainty continues to characterize the near-term economic outlook and inhibit stronger growth and job creation. This has been a common theme for this article during the last few years and has been a major reason for the tepid pace of merger and acquisition activity.
The November elections and the pending ‘fiscal cliff’ have uncertainty at a high in the United States and, together with continued troubles in Europe, lead to economic uncertainty globally. Job creation remains the key to improvement in the construction market, and erosion of consumer and business confidence resulting from the pending 2013 fiscal cliff could result in adverse economic consequences that could slow the recovery process.
That said, the elections and fiscal cliff issues will be behind us by the second quarter of 2013, and there appears to be more optimism among U.S. producers that the residential recovery has begun. With MAP-21, there will be certainty for the next two years in the highway sector. Aggregates demand should benefit from a recovery in private construction activity and stability in highway funding, which, in turn, will be good for merger and acquisition transactions.
Recent transactions
