Momentum built into the back half of 2025, with clients across private equity, investment banking, and corporate sectors reporting a pickup in activity, supported by a relatively strong economy, expectations of lower rates, and clarity emerging from trade negotiations out of Washington. M&A activity had softened earlier in the second quarter amid post tariff related jitters, though momentum picked back up by May, even as average middle market purchase price multiples declined meaningfully from the prior quarter. That pullback in valuations widened the arbitrage between business and real estate multiples, keeping sale leaseback opportunities attractive even as broader deal activity worked through a choppier stretch.
