Whitestone Communications, Inc. believes it sees another indication that the specialized-information publishing business may have reached the bottom of its two-plus years of doldrums just as much of the rest of the economy is showing signs of doing the same. Whitestone said that for the second quarter in a row, newsletter/directory merger and acquisition activity in the second quarter paralleled performance of the earlier-year period, as tracked in its Who's Buying Whom publication. There were four deals during the second quarter of 2003 valued at $11 million, Whitestone reported. That compares to seven deals during the same period a year ago worth $12 million. "We believe the three-year decline in M&A activity may be over", said Whitestone associate Jenifer Lindenman. "Some larger properties are now on the market and some expect larger deals to be announced in the third quarter." Before the stagnation hit, Whitestone reported about 10 deals per quarter in 2001 and 10-20 per quarter in 2000.
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