which is fine with that merger's advisor, imap. the global m&a advisory firm specializes in bringing together private mid-sized companies. imap currently ranks sixth worldwide in deals worth $100- million or less. imap's president mark esbeck says there's a reason for the uptick in deals. >> what it means is that there's more confidence about the future. m&a is a business driven by confidence and attitude of certainty about the future, because the buyer is going to make a significant investment, in hopes of generating a good return on that investment. when the environment is fuzzy and cloudy, they will hold off. and sellers are the same way. so should we feel better about the direction of the economy, given what imap is seeing about mid-sized mergers and acquisitions? >> it's a good sign for the economic recovery when middle market companies are selling actively like they were. it means people have faith in the future. and i think it's a great barometer for the fact that the recovery is happening when you see middle-market m&a star