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With the massive decline in equities, it would seem that M&A would be robust – as solid buyers find compelling deals. But, if you look at the history of M&A, recessionary environments tend to result in lower activity.

And yes, according to analysis from Bernstein Research, it looks like 2009 will remain a slow time for M&A. If anything, there won't be a comeback until 2010.

No doubt, this is bad news for deal shops like Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Greenhill (NYSE: GHL). Then again, the investment banking industry is undergoing lots of change right now (as top-tier firms becoming bank holding companies).

Essentially, Bernstein forecasts that M&A activity will be off by a quarter next year. If this happens, then the fall-off will be 45% from 2007 to 2010.

Sounds bad, huh? Well, this is actually normal stuff in the feast-or-famine M&A game.

Why? For the most part, companies do not want to take major risks during slow economic times. After all, how long will the recession last? If it continues for several more years, then making a commitment on a major deal could be harmful.

However, Bernstein still sees some positives. For example, counter-cyclical industries, such as healthcare, should still see strength in M&A. Oh, and expect distressed deals (where sellers have no choice but to sell out) as well as activity in the financial sector (as the federal government pumps up the sector with fresh cash).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

In India, the growth of the information technology (IT) industry has been stunning. For the most part, the strategy has been to focus on internal growth. However, this may be changing, and we can expect to see more M&A.

In fact, this week Infosys Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) has agreed to pay $753.1 million for UK rival, Axon Group PLC.

In a way, the Indian IT service providers are victims of their own success. For example, wages are skyrocketing and it's getting tougher to find quality consultants.

With the Axon deal, Infosys will add about 2,000 consultants who specialize in the complex work of SAP (NYSE: SAP) implementations -- projects that can certainly generate juicy fees. Infosys will also get a stronger platform in Europe. Last year, Axon generated $378.3 million in revenues, with $37.4 million in profits.

According to Murray Beach, managing Managing Director of TM Capital:

"This transaction is an impressive step for Infosys. Many of the leading offshore services firms have talked about climbing up the value chain of services offerings and improving on-site customer presence, but none have completed a deal of such magnitude to back up their rhetoric. We expect the acquisition of Axon to mark the first of many acquisitions by the leading Indian offshore players of traditional on-site strategic and technology consulting companies in the US and Europe."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

For financial markets, August is always a slow time as Wall Streeters head for their vacations. But this year, there was more than just seasonality. Simply put, it was a very tough month for M&A operators.

In fact, according to Reuters, August was the worst month since 1992.

It's been about a year since the credit crunch started, and it looks like things aren't getting better. If anything, it's a good bet we'll continue to see volatility and layoffs in the financial services space.

In August, the M&A volume in the U.S. came to about $28.5 billion, which is 53% off from the same period a year ago.

Ironically, while private equity funds have a huge amount of capital to put to work, there is not much bank financing. As a result, most of the private equity deals have been fairly small (below $2 billion or so).

Also, some of the recent mega deals – such as InBev's $45 billion acquisition for Anheuser-Busch Cos. (NASDAQ: BUD) – are crowding out the financing market.

In other words, investment bankers may need to wait until next year for things to warm up again.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

One encouraging theme from the first annual UBS Global Technology Forum on Tuesday was that M&A in the high-tech industry is busier than in most other sectors, with midmarket activity holding stable and a handful of notable hostile transactions offering advisory opportunities. Otherwise, it's tough out there.

Bankers at the event, held near the heart of the U.S. tech scene in Palo Alto, Calif., said fees from technology deals will be down at least 25% on the year. If they're lucky. It would be worse if a resilient M&A market weren't helping to offset the dismal IPO and debt financing markets.

Brian Webber, global head of technology investment banking at UBS, said the global fee pool for all technology deals should total about $3 billion this year, a steep drop from the $6 billion in fees reaped in 2007 and an even sharper fall-off, not surprisingly, from the $12.1 billion collected in 2000 at the height of the Internet boom. The fees this year would put 2008 on par with levels in 2002 in the aftermath of the dot-com bust.

Continue reading at TechConfidential.com.

With the markets in a swoon, marquee assets are on sale in the US. And with the drop in the dollar, the valuations look even more compelling. Something else: the surge in commodities, especially in oil, is bulging the assets in mega sovereign wealth funds.

Even US icons are under attack, such as Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. (NYSE: BUD), which is fending off a hostile takeover from Belgium's InBev.

True, there is some good news. For example, our domestic companies will have an edge with exports (it seems that this has saved us from a recession -- at least so far). But, alas, it is little consolation.

Perhaps the most effective way to boost the value of the dollar is to increase interest rates. However, this will be a tough thing to do in light of the upcoming election, the housing sump and continued economic weakness.

In other words, US assets should remain cheap. And foreign buyers can't ignore this. So, it's a good bet that we'll see more and more dealmaking from overseas.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

We already know the IPO market is nonexistent, but what about M&A? A report put out Tuesday by media-related investment banking firm the Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc. indicates that things aren't so bad in the online media and technology sector and the marketing and interactive services sector, though deal sizes have declined significantly.

According to the report, the total number of transactions for media, information, marketing services and related technologies increased to 404 in the first half of 2008 versus 397 in 2007. Deal value, however, was down dramatically to $23.2 billion from $65.8 billion in 2007.

The decline was most noticeable in $1 billion-plus transactions. There were four in the first half of 2008, accounting for $9.6 billion in value, versus 11 deals worth $46.3 billion in the same period last year, though a sizable amount of that came from Thomson Corp.'s $18 billion acquisition of Reuters.

Continue reading at TechConfidential.com.

TriZetto Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TZIX) is being acquired by private equity firm Apax Partners. The private equity group will acquire this health-care software company for about $1.4 billion, or $22.00 per share.

What is interesting in this deal is that BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and The Regence Group, both of which are customers of TriZetto, are providing some funding in the deal. That portion was not disclosed, although they will be equity investors in the newly private company. Regence is a combination of several BlueCross BlueShield operations in the U.S.

Apax partners has some $35 Billion "in funds under advice according to the company. Trizetto provides IT solutions that enable payers and other constituents in the healthcare supply chain to improve the coordination of benefits and care for healthcare consumers.

See the full story at 247WallSt.com.