Strategic Alternatives

Exploring the rebound of equity markets in 2024, with a focus on market trends, optimistic outlook for global IPOs, convertible market analysis, Australia's sector trends, and European business refocusing.

Discussion on M&A trends in 2024, including interest rate environment, revised expectations, and early buyers. Exploring shift in sellers' expectations, consolidation in the tech industry, IPO market state, antitrust challenges, and consolidation in the Canadian energy sector.

As the U.S. economy shows positive signs for growth, inflation, and interest rates in 2024, RBC Capital Markets’ RBC Capital Markets’ Michael Reid, Blake Gwinn, Vito Sperduto and Larry Grafstein analyze the challenges posed by consumer spending, political gridlock, and quantitative tightening.

The podcast discusses Australia's economic challenges such as softening growth, persistent inflation, and a weaker labor market. It also examines key factors to monitor and their implications for the RBA, bond market, and investors. The analysis includes topics like the labor market, fixed income markets, and navigating Australia's economic outlook.

There are widespread expectations that UK and EU inflation will hit target levels in 2024 – yet many obstacles remain. Peter Schaffrik, Chief European Macro Strategist and Cathal Kennedy, UK Senior Economist analyze the inflationary outlook, prospects for European growth, and how the effects of interest rate rises are still playing out across the continent

Growth is poor, labor is a concern, but inflation seems to have been punctured. Nathan Janzen, Assistant Chief Economist, Canada, examines what the economic signs herald for Canada’s future in 2024. 

Going into the next election, US regulators are more likely to double down than back off their focus on big M&A deals and they’re looking most closely at consumer-facing businesses. Vito Sperduto, Head of Global M&A, sat down with Andrew Lipman, Partner at Morgan Lewis at RBC’s Global Technology, Internet, Media and Telecommunications (TIMT) Conference to discuss how antitrust will continue to affect US regulation in our current environment.

From geopolitical volatility to a looming election year, there’s hardly been a more important time to examine strategic alternatives. With M&A levels below average, but IPO volumes high — what might the next stretch look like for transactional activity? And how quickly will markets recover from potential disruption? 

The equity capital market is technically open. Some big IPOs have been delivered. Yet many investors and issuers still prefer to wait rather than act. What’s holding them back, and what are the prospects for the market getting back into full swing in 2024?

Recent deals in the industrial sector suggest an unleashing of pent-up M&A demand due to the new interest rate environment. The podcast discusses the impact of macro uncertainty and higher interest rates on deal-making. It also highlights the effects of wage pressures, supply chain challenges, and increasing CEO confidence on mergers and acquisitions in the industry. The potential surge of deals in the future is discussed, considering the availability of fresh capital and market dampening factors like high rates and inflation.