While deal making has been relatively subdued this year, there has been a flurry of activity in the final months. And that may mean 2013 could be very good for merger volumes, according to one banker.
Robert Kindler, global head of mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" that deals such as the $8.2 billion ICE-NYSE tie up and ConAgra's $5 billion bid for Ralcorp are a sign of a pickup in mergers and acquisitions for next year.
"If you take a look going forward, no conversations (occurred) this time last year because of volatility, lots of conversations going on this time," Kindler said.
Moreover, Kindler said valuations for the S&P 500 look fairly reasonable and there's plenty of cash and financing sloshing around. "Most importantly," he said, "there's no other way of getting growth. If you're a strategic company, you cannot get organic growth."
On Wednesday, Donald Drapkin of Casablanca Capital told CNBC he expected an "enormous amount of M&A next year."
Mergers should get a boost from cheap money, pristine corporate balance sheets, relatively attractive valuations and increasing CEO confidence, he said.
And with companies looking to do more deals, deal makers are pushing private equity buyers out of the market. "It's much harder for the private equity buyers to play when the strategic buyers are back," the Morgan Stanley banker said. "Also, even when it does come back, we're not going to see any deals of size because the equity check has to be much bigger."
"I think next year, particularly the first half of year, is going to be very good," Kindler said.