A/E firms see record level of deals in 2015

Driven by steady growth in the economy, domestic merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the architecture and engineering (A/E) industry hit record levels in 2015, according to Morrissey Goodale LLC (Newton, Mass.), a business management consulting and training firm to the A/E industry. Growing uncertainty about foreign markets, however, contributed to a drop in the number of international deals last year. In 2015, Morrissey Goodale tracked a record 234 sales of U.S.-based A/E firms, representing a 5.4% increase over 2014. Sales of international firms, however, dropped 8.5% to 107 last year. When domestic and international sales are combined, overall global deal-making in the A/E industry increased by 0.6% in 2015.