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NEW YORK, May 3, 2010 — 2010 should see a major rebound in M&A activity, according to a recent survey of senior M&A professionals conducted by Merrill DataSite®, a subsidiary of Merrill Corporation.

While 2009 saw a decline of nearly 40 percent in mergers and acquisition activity, more than 60 percent of survey respondents reported that they expect their company’s M&A activity to increase over the next 12 to 18 months.

More importantly, an overwhelming 86.1 percent of survey respondents indicated that overall there is good value in today’s M&A market which could indicate the potential for increased deal flow.

“Since the beginning of 2010, Merrill DataSite has experienced a tremendous increase in the number of M&A transactions hosted on our VDR (virtual data room) platform, driven by both new and existing users. Further evidence of increased M&A activity is supported by a 40% increase in total page volume on DataSite at the end of March, compared to the same period last year,” said Paul F. Hartzell, Senior Vice President, Merrill DataSite. “We believe that the increased activity is the result of a firming up of the economy, bolstered by pent-up deal demand, coupled with a strengthening of the capital markets.”

According to the survey, 53.1 percent of the respondents indicated that the overall value of their company’s acquisitions in 2010 would be less than $25 million; 17.2 percent and 15.1 percent indicated ranges of greater than $50 million but less than $500 million and greater than $25 million but less than $50 million, respectively.

• Within North America – 46.9 percent expect transactions of less than $25 million; 21.6 percent expect transactions of greater than $50 million but less than $500 million; 14.1 percent expect transactions of greater than $25 million but less than $50 million.

• Within Asia – 40.6 percent expect transactions of less than $25 million; 21.2 percent expect transactions of greater than $50 million but less than $500 million; 19.8 percent expect transactions of greater than $25 million but less than $50 million.

• Within Europe – 44.8 percent expect transactions of less than $25 million; 18.9 percent expect transactions of greater than $50 million but less than $500 million; 16.1 percent expect transactions of greater than $25 million but less than $50 million.

Approximately 42 percent of respondents indicated that cross-boarder/overseas acquisitions are somewhat important for their companies in 2010. Of those that indicated that cross-boarder/overseas acquisitions are a top priority (20.5 percent), 38 percent work in the consumer products industry.

The survey indicated that the major currency used to make purchases would be a combination of stock and cash (49 percent) or solely cash (48 percent). By industry, industrial products (46 percent), energy (45 percent) and consumer products (39 percent) indicated that cash would be the primary currency used to make a purchase.

About the Survey
Merrill DataSite contracted Global Finance Magazine to conduct a survey to assess domestic and international merger and acquisition trends and how companies are managing the M&A process. The survey was conducted online from March 16 to 23, 2010 and was completed by 1,094 senior professionals.

Senior professionals came from companies across a broad range of industries, with the greatest concentration in the financial services (32 percent), energy (15 percent) and consumer products (11 percent). Regarding company headquarters, 50 percent were in North America, 23 percent were in Asia/Pacific and 14 percent were in Europe. Regarding company size, 48 percent of respondents’ companies had fewer than 100 employees, 24 percent had more than 100 but fewer than 1,000 employees and 13 percent had more than 1,000 but fewer than 5,000 employees.

About Merrill Corporation
Founded in 1968 and headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., Merrill Corporation (www.merrillcorp.com) is a leading provider of outsourced solutions for complex business communication and information management. Merrill’s services include document and data management, litigation support, language translation services, branded communications programs, fulfillment, imaging and printing. Merrill’s target markets include the legal, financial services, insurance and real estate industries. With more than 5,200 people in over 70 domestic and 15 international locations, Merrill empowers the communications of the world’s leading companies.

About Merrill DataSite
Merrill DataSite™ is a comprehensive virtual data room (VDR) solution that accelerates the due diligence process by providing a secure online document repository for confidential time-sensitive documents. Merrill DataSite overcomes the many limitations of a traditional paper data room by enabling companies to present critical business information to multiple prospective buyers in a secure Web-based environment. As a result, transaction time and expense are dramatically reduced. Merrill DataSite can be rapidly deployed and is accessible by viewers throughout the world via the Internet. As a leading provider of VDR solutions worldwide, Merrill DataSite has served more than 4,500 private and public companies across the globe, and has empowered nearly 2 million unique visitors to perform electronic due diligence on thousands of transactions totaling trillions of dollars in asset value. Merrill DataSite recently was honored with the “M&A Product/Service of the Year Award” from the M&A Advisor.

About Global Finance Magazine
Global Finance, founded in 1987, has a circulation of 50,050 and readers in 163 countries. Its circulation is audited by BPA.

Global Finance’s audience includes chairmen, presidents, CEOs, CFOs, treasurers and other senior financial officers responsible for making investment and strategic decisions at multinational companies and financial institutions. Global Finance also targets the 8,000 international portfolio investors responsible for more than 80% of all global assets under professional management. Its website –– www.gfmag.com –– offers analysis and articles that are the heritage of 23 years of experience in international financial markets, and provides a valuable source of data on 192 countries. Headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Rio de Janeiro and Milan. www.GFmag.com