For the third year running, KPMG and The Deal magazine have teamed to conduct the Annual M&A Outlook Survey. This year's results are based on more than 360 M&A professionals' insights and opinions about where the deal market is headed for 2010.

An in-depth article that highlights the survey findings appeared in the center spread of the January edition of The Deal. A unique aspect of the article is the client interviews that are conducted each year and added as an appendix. This year, we spoke with M&A executives from Walmart, 3M, Wells Fargo Capital Finance, and Mid-Ocean Partners, all who greatly enhanced our final product by providing insightful commentary for the year ahead.

Along with these executives, the following KPMG practice leaders were quoted throughout the article: Lisa Madden, Shawn Hessing, Cherie Homa, Drew Koecher, and Dan Tiemann.