Recent data from GF Data Resources reveal “deal volume for 3Q edged upwards from 30 deals in 2Q to 33 completed transactions for the quarter,” indicating a climb “toward the peak volume of about 50 deals per quarter through 2006 and the first half of 2007.  “The third quarter of 2010 was, by all measures, the cool drink of water that a parched middle market had been waiting for,” said Andrew T. Greenberg, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of GF Data Resources LLC. “We expect that deal volume will continue to expand heading into 2011, although we would stop well short of saying the market has strengthened enough to be impervious to backsliding.”

GF Data Resources provides data on private equity-sponsored M&A transactions with enterprise values of $10 to 250 million, and the firm’s database draws from data provided by 163 private equity firms on 1,267 transactions closed between Jan. 1, 2003, and Sept. 30, 2010. As of the 3Q report, 151 firms were active contributors.