Australia set for strong M&A year

Sydney

AUSTRALIA'S privatisation drive is set to draw billions of dollars of acquisition funds in 2017 adding to what corporate advisers expect to be a strong year for dealmaking, albeit one tempered by potential restrictions on foreign suitors.

A flurry of smaller deals involving firms battling to stay competitive in an era of disruptive startups is likely to add to an infrastructure privatisation push aimed in part at narrowing public budget deficits, four corporate advisers told Reuters.

"There aren't enough deals to satisfy the appetite of infrastructure investors right now," said David Larocca, Oceania managing partner of transaction advisory services at EY. "Australia is a relatively stable economy and relative to other countries around the world the outlook remains…