Following the last minute agreement made in early January in order to avoid the tax implications of the Fiscal Cliff, we are finally faced with some clarity when it comes to taxes for 2013. However, whilst The American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) dealt with tax components relating to revenue, decisions regarding the spending side have been delayed for two months.

As we all now know, last minute wrangling led to the fiscal cliff being avoided. An agreement was reached on tax increases for wealthy individuals amongst other issues. Spending cuts and the significant impacts of tax increases were both avoided. Well, not necessarily. In essence, the agreement postponed the most painful issues faced by the country, spending cuts and the debt ceiling.

2012 was a great year in terms of deal activity at Benchmark International and we have several reasons to believe that 2013 will surpass last year with market conditions primed for high levels of deal completions.

External economic factors invariably play the biggest role in determining the most salable time for companies. One of the biggest factors at play are interest rates and as you will probably already know, they are at a record low in both the US & UK, which is great for those considering selling their company.

2012 has seen M&A activity move significantly towards pre-recession levels. The continuing access to capital and finance on the buy side, coupled with stronger balance sheets and soaring appetite for divestiture has meant that deal completions have reached record levels here at Benchmark International. With corporate confidence improving further in addition to the huge levels of cash available to investors under pressure to spend, 2013 looks set to prove even more successful in terms of deals completed.