Year-to-date, M&A activity has been robust, as reflected in the chart below. Despite a modest start to the year, the value of M&A transactions is up, over the same time period last year, in all regions except for Asia Pacific.

Low interest rates, willing lenders, buyers with large cash balances, and other strong fundamentals are contributing to M&A activity around the world. And, it appears that deal multiples are increasing due to competition between private equity firms and strategic buyers. One of the strategies of both of these types of buyers is to enhance shareholders’ wealth via the acquisition of companies.

There are two questions that every business owner or CEO should ask, at least annually: when should we acquire a company and when should we sell either all or part of the company. The answer is not always straightforward, but the question is worthy of significant attention. With over 30 years of M&A experience, I have personally seen many businesses miss valuable opportunities by hesitating to consider a transaction.

There were 21,605 M&A transactions announced, worldwide, in the first half of 2013. The totals by geographic region were as follows:

The US is continuing to lead the volume of M&A transactions with Europe not too far behind. While everyone is continuing to debate whether there is a recovery and if there is a recovery how strong it is, smart companies are completing transactions to fulfill management and shareholder objectives. And, they will benefit from these transactions in both the near and long terms.

With all these transactions taking place, the obvious question is what is the right time to undertake a divestiture or acquire another company? There are many correct answers to that question; however, the real answer is that it depends on your objectives. Most of the time, people/companies wait too long to pursue a transaction; consequently, they miss many viable and valuable opportunities.

Versailles Group represented PayTrue Solutions, a payment media software company with offices in Uruguay and Brazil, in its sale to EFT Group S.A., a transaction processing services company headquartered in Santiago, Chile.

Here is a link to the actual Press Release or the text is listed below for your convenience.

BOSTON, May 28, 2013 -- Versailles Group, Ltd. (www.versaillesgroup.com) is pleased to announce that PayTrue Solutions (www.paytrue.com), with offices in Uruguay and Brazil, has been acquired by EFT Group S.A. (www.eftgroup.net). Versailles Group acted as exclusive financial advisor to PayTrue. Terms were not disclosed.

Versailles Group, a 26-year-old Boston-based investment bank that specializes in international mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, advised PayTrue’s shareholders on the transaction. Versailles Group works with companies in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Asia, and South America. The Versailles Group team was led by Donald Grava, Versailles Group’s Founder and President.

Founded in 2003, PayTrue offers a complete suite of solutions to address the various needs of the payment media industry. PayTrue’s operations focus on debit, credit, and prepaid cards, authorization of transactions, international brands, risk analysis, and fraud detection. PayTrue also provides professional services that complement its many solutions.

"PayTrue is a fascinating business in a rapidly-growing market, and it required a unique approach by Versailles Group to facilitate its successful sale" said Donald Grava, Versailles Group's Founder and President. "The acquisition of PayTrue has fulfilled the shareholders’ desire for a liquidity event, and provides EFT Group with an enormous opportunity to expand its South American operations. We are delighted to have exceeded our client’s expectations and look forward to watching EFT and PayTrue prosper."

EFT Group provides electronic transaction processing services for the finance and retail industries. EFT also offers business process outsourcing, infrastructure management, help desk, data center, maintenance, and integration services. EFT Group was founded in 1995 and is based in Santiago, Chile.

About Versailles Group, Ltd.

Versailles Group, Ltd. is a Boston-based investment bank that specializes in international mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. It provides its clients with a high level of personal attention, international experience, and professional execution. Since 1987, Versailles Group's skill, flexibility, and experience have enabled it to successfully close transactions, both domestically and internationally, in all economic environments. More information on Versailles Group can be found on its website, www.versaillesgroup.com.

Contact: Donald Grava

Media Contact: Donald Grava, Versailles Group, Ltd.

Over the past few years, the M&A landscape has changed quite dramatically from a geographic standpoint. As we’ve mentioned in the past, M&A activity in Europe has seen a quite precipitous decline, with associated increases in M&A activity in the United States / Canada and Asia / Pacific regions, and we fully expect this trend to continue in the near term.

The one region that has failed to receive much M&A attention is Africa / Middle East, which, in the chart above, follows nearly the same path as that of the Latin America and Caribbean region; however, it appears that there may be a sharp increase in M&A activity in Africa over the next three to five years.

Africa has a plethora of natural resources, such as oil and natural gas, iron ore, copper, etc. Many Chinese companies have already recognized the value and invested in these areas. As companies with large cash positions from other regions of the world start to deploy their capital to develop these natural resources, there will be a noticeable uptick in M&A activity in Africa.

Over the past four quarters, there has been significant growth in M&A activity in the middle market of Latin America and the Caribbean. Both the number of M&A deals, aggregate value, and average value of M&A transactions in these regions have increased substantially.

The number of deals have increased in each quarter, from 45 in Q3 of 2011, to 83 in Q4 of 2011, to 107 in Q1 of 2012, and finally to 135 in Q2 of 2012.

Additionally, the aggregate value of these transactions increased substantially, from US$2,203MM in Q3 of 2011 to US$11,043MM in Q2 of 2012.

In terms of the average value per transaction, the first three quarters mentioned had fairly consistent figures (US$48.9MM, US$41.9MM, and US$43.6MM). However, Q2 of 2012 saw an 87% increase in the average value per transaction, jumping to US$81.8MM. A portion of this spike can be attributed to the M&A activity in energy and consumer staples, which experienced exponential increases.

As a result of these drastic increases in M&A activity, Brazilian middle market M&A now represents 31% of all middle market M&A deals in Latin America and the Caribbean. There are a number of reasons for this, including currency factors, changes in antitrust laws, growth in infrastructure projects in Brazil related to the impending Olympic Games and World Cup events, etc.

Over the past three years, the emergence of the South American economy has not been a surprise to many. While Brazil may be the first country that comes to mind when one mentions a strong South American economy, other countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, and Colombia will start to make more headlines over the next two to three years. After all, their respective GDP growth rates on a year-over-year basis are the three highest in South America at 9.30%, 8.47%, and 7.7%.

From an M&A standpoint, in these countries combined, there were 42 more deals announced or closed in 2011 than there were in 2010. The associated transaction values jumped by $3.6 billion. In terms of the increase in number of transactions and the aggregate increase in transaction value, both increased by 22% from 2010 to 2011. Furthermore, almost 60% of all deals occurred in one of the four following sectors: Energy, Financials, Materials, and Industrials.

With strong macroeconomic factors, we expect M&A in these and other South American countries to continue the upward trend in 2012. Additionally, as more and more companies worldwide begin to see the tremendous growth opportunities that these countries present, the number of transactions should continue to increase every year.