Aging Owners, Rising Taxes and Roaring '20s Drive M&A Rebound

Downstream metals M&A is back, and it could be bigger than ever – or at least as big as it’s been since the last metals super cycle in 2006-08, according to one investment banker.

Deal volume in the metals service center and processing sectors was good in early 2020 and “cratered” following the COVID-19 outbreak. But it has rebounded in recent months as vaccinations have rolled out and as the economic outlook has improved, Dan Sullivan, founder and managing director of Chicago-based Montrose Advisors LLC, told Steel Market Update.

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.