CDT Roundup: 15 Deals, 9 Firms, 109 Lawyers, $3.2B

This week Sidley Austin released the results of a survey sent to 150 US-based executives on the prospects for dealmaking. They include leaders of 75 with firms that have more than $1 billion in assets under management and another 75 business development execs from companies with annual revenues of $1 billion or more.

The survey was conducted in November in partnership with Mergermarket, so their perspectives should be handicapped accordingly. On the one hand, the pandemic was in full roar with about 1,600 deaths each day and election results included a new president-elect and unresolved control of the senate at the time the survey was underway. On the other hand, transactions were bouncing back from a truly miserable summer to levels that were beginning to approach normal. In fact, the fourth quarter of 2020 was one of the best in the past few years.