Program administrators are continuing to attract strategic buyers eyeing the financial benefits of adding niche businesses and focused coverage specialists to their operations in a soft cycle–but the profile of the typical buyer is changing, according to deal advisers, as interest from private equity firms fades in light of deteriorating financial market conditions.

"We are seeing a lot of M&A [merger and acquisition] activity on the program side," said Robert Lieblein, a managing partner in the Harrisburg, Pa., office of investment banker Hales & Company.

Dale Myer, a senior vice president at New York-based Gill and Roeser Inc., echoed that sentiment, noting that the "tremendous amount of consolidation in the retail [broker] market has started to carry over into the wholesale specialty area as well–and will continue to do so."

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