Like many of those involved in the M&A market, I started the new decade thinking that things could only get better after recent economic challenges, and it appears that there are grounds for optimism.

With global M&A deal activity slipping down to 22% from 2008 levels (according to Dealogic) and some suggesting that we may have seen the bottom of the M&A market in 2009, I think it's safe to say that we’ll all be glad to say goodbye to 2009. And what better way to say farewell and to round the year off than with our Q4 Deal Flow Indicator results.