With merger and acquisition activity still hindered by inflationary headwinds and other economic challenges, a number of franchising experts are skeptical the market will see any significant changes in the second half of 2024, even as the Federal Reserve considers reducing interest rates.

For some, this represents a shift in earlier forecasts when many franchisors and investors were optimistic that the dealmaking market would pick up this year.

Alex Dunn, managing partner of family office Larry H. Miller Company, believes the country reached the top of where inflation will land and looks forward to M&A activity picking up in the second half of the year. 

At the same time, however, he wonders about the long-term impact of government’s COVID-era stimulus package on franchising and the M&A market.

“There was a tremendous amount of capital that got pumped into the economy during the pandemic and I wonder if has created a bubble of some kind or set us up for some sort of correction,” Dunn said. “What that will be or what that looks like, I can only speculate.”

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