Despite the fact that in September we identified 10 acquisition / merger transactions (double the number in the same month last year), the consolidation process has dramatically slowed down this year, when measured by value. This is hardly surprising given the liquidity crisis and the financial melt-down over the last two years, which has dislocated the ability to fund acquisitions. However consolidation will be driven by the massive fragmentation of this business with many companies being well below the minimum economic size and unable to support the ever increasing need to develop new products. The consolidation process is therefore getting jammed up but the dam will inevitably burst. Our analysis shows that the main restriction is the fact that the major global suppliers have for the most part withdrawn from the acquisition market, because they have lost confidence at this time to commit to the future. It has been left for the medium sized businesses […]