M&A activity continues to be a one of the main themes domestically, a trend Macquarie says will continue to pick up

M&A activity continues to be a one of the main themes domestically, a trend Macquarie says will continue to pick up. Alongside continued strength in the IPO pipeline, M&A activity continues to dominate headlines in the Australian market. Most recently Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), SFG Australia, Goodman Fielder and Oil Search have been the subjects of M&A activity or speculation. Macquarie Research believe the outlook for M&A activity is improving and they expect to see more deals in Australia. Macquarie says historically companies that are cheap, have poor 12-month returns, but have experienced a turnaround in the shorter term have been M&A targets. A review of the current market by the broker throws up the following as potential M&A targets: Whitehaven Coal, M2 Group, Senex Ennergy, IOOF, Ten, Incitec Pivot, Echo Entertainment and Orica.