Expect 2015 to be a busy year for M&A activity, as corporate buyers feel bolstered by an improving economy and baby boomers think about selling their business ahead of retirement.

Those are just some of the conclusions of Citizens Commercial Banking’s fourth annual Middle Market M&A Outlook, released this week.

"We believe 2015-2016 will classify the M&A market as more intensive. It will intensify and accelerate in 2015," said Bob Rubino, executive vice president and head of corporate finance and capital markets.

According to this year’s survey, a quarter of middle-market executives surveyed said their firms are presently acquiring another firm, compared with 17 percent last year. Among larger middle-market firms – or those with revenue between $100 million and $2 billion – 46 percent said they were currently involved in a purchase, compared with 30 percent last year.

Executives told Citizens they believe the market is shifting in favor of sellers, and many potential buyers or sellers who were previously "on the fence" have now reached a tipping point, where they’ve decided to either take action or hold off on M&A activity for at least another year.

"There’s been a noticeable shift that’s giving sellers the confidence that they think the market’s going to be better for them in the future than it is for them today," Rubino said.

Among sellers in the middle market, seven in 10 respondents said their projected retirement date was a key factor in determining when they might sell. Expect to see more M&A activity in the middle market as more and more Baby Boomers enter their 60s, Rubino said.

"At some point you’re going to want to change ownership of your business and de-risk your net worth," he said.

Furthermore, a quarter of the middle-market companies surveyed said they were actively engaged in raising capital, and Citizens concluded that companies seem to be taking advantage of low interest rates while they still can.

The survey results contain some interesting implications for commercial bankers, too. Among those buyers surveyed by Citizens, commercial banks were the preferred partner for 32 percent of business leaders actively engaged in or pursuing a purchase.

Rubino said bankers should think about buyers’ top concerns – namely, inheriting liability, losing key employees, or client perceptions changing during an acquisition – and discuss those with their clients.

"If you’re a banker today you need to be helping your companies think through these issues," he said. "Their basic commercial banker is one of the key places they go to. They have been the friend in the equation by lending for years."