What is happening in the M & A markets during 2014? The short answer is: so far, 2014 is the most active year for United States M & A since 2008 (we all know what happened after 2008).

The current and future state of the market was discussed at the Practicing Law Institute panel held in New York on October 2, 2014, led by senior investment bankers from Lazard and Goldman Sachs.

United States target M & A volume was up 79% from 2013, through mid-August, driven in part by increased frequency of “mega deals”. Nearly 30% of the announced M & A volume arose from transactions in excess of $10 Billion.

There also was a significant upswing in strategic purchases. Part of this trend was driven by private equity firms partially divesting to corporate buyers. Meanwhile, leveraged buyouts by management remained depressed.

Were buyers paying cash? Almost 40% of M & A involved payment in some stock, and 15% of acquisitions were all-stock deals. Of course, when you are talking mega-transactions, it is difficult to come up with all that cash and, hence, the resurgence of paper.

Possible drivers which helped increased M & A: growth in hostile takeover attempts; pressure by shareholder activists seeking, in many instances, to break up larger companies; low interest rates; lots of dry powder on corporate balance sheets; positive performance of the equity markets which made payment in stock more palatable than in the recent past.

Where will M & A trend for the balance of the year and into 2015? While the prognosis expressed was generally positive, with sustained M&A activity assisted by projected modest but continued increase in the S&P, several warnings were noted: the world has become a more dangerous place which, in turn, increases business risk; some current deals may prove over-leveraged, and their weaknesses may trickle back into the marketplace and depress valuations, discouraging sellers; conversely, continued increased price multiples perhaps will dampen the enthusiasm of private equity buyers.