Hunter Holliday was quoted extensively in Financier Worldwide regarding how the decline of the U.S. dollar is attracting foreign buyers. Holliday described the global financial landscape in the wake of the U.S. credit crisis, and what that means in the world of mergers and acquisitions. He argued that U.S. sellers are particularly concerned with a buyer’s ability to pay cash or obtain financing. “An investor must have cash on its balance sheet or at least ready access to cash through existing credit facilities,” Holliday said.
Holliday went on to describe the financial climate of the coming years. “The emerging market economies that will be best positioned to acquire U.S. assets in the period ahead will be those that enjoy a trade surplus with the U.S. and those that benefit from high commodities pricing—particularly oil and natural gas. Under these criteria, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds seem extremely well placed to acquire U.S. assets.”
Holliday also weighed in on the different trends in global economic relationships: “European investors and investors from emerging markets are, in many cases, pursuing different types of investments in the U.S. Financially savvy European strategic investors are acquiring U.S. businesses or assets in medium-sized transactions to enhance the value of their existing businesses or operations. In contrast, many emerging market investors seem to be making more passive investments, such as acquiring minority states in large U.S. companies, like investment banks, or even investing or partnering with U.S. private equity funds.”
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