The third quarter saw a flurry of deals with strategic buyers leading the charge across the pro audio/visual technologies, digital signage, and residential and consumer technology sectors. Moreover, our Commercial & Consumer Technology team has had a busy past few months. Recently, we announced the sale of VXi Corporation, a leading provider of headset communications solutions, to GN Audio (Jabra), a Denmark-based leader in intelligent audio solutions. We also advised Amped Wireless, a developer and marketer of premium WiFi networking solutions, on its sale to Digital Products International, a leading producer of consumer electronics selling products under the Memorex, Zeki, iLive, GPX, WeatherX, Culinar and Oster brands.
Facing pressure to grow, strategics have turned to M&A as they build out their product portfolios, adding brands and technological capabilities. Many of the deals were driven by the opportunity to rationalize costs and consolidate operations. While we have seen several years of attractive growth, the limited visibility of President-elect Donald Trump’s policies on trade and taxes coupled with economic uncertainty has increased the focus on core operational strength, cost efficiencies, and profitability ahead of a potentially challenging future. We expect continued strong activity heading into the final months of 2016.