LOS ANGELES, Mar 22, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Salem Partners LLC, a Los Angeles based provider of investment banking advisory services, presented at the CompositesWorld's Investment Forum 2010, held in La Jolla, California March 15 and 16. Trevor Bohn, a Managing Director of Salem Partners' Aerospace, Defense & Government Services Practice, participated on the Private Equity Investment Panel along with experts from Artiman Ventures, North Coast Technology Investors and Goodrich Corporation.

The panel discussed drivers, trends and the outlook for the capital markets, as well as merger and acquisition implications for the sector in 2010. "While aerospace has typically driven M&A activity in the advanced materials and composites sector, we expect that naval ship building will also be a key strategic driver in 2010, thanks to the DoD's $11.8 billion request for ships in the FY11 budget. An increasing emphasis on platform capability over hull count will intensify demand for the use of advanced materials and associated engineering services," said Mr. Bohn when asked what sub sectors are expected to experience the most capital raising or merger activity in the months ahead. "The debt markets are open for companies in the $10 to $100 million revenue range," said Mr. Bohn when commenting on the availability of capital to the sector.

Salem Partners LLC (www.salempartners.com) is a provider of full service investment banking advisory services with a focus in several industries including Aerospace, Defense & Government Services, Media & Entertainment, and Life Sciences & Healthcare Services.

CompositesWorld, with offices in Cincinnati, Ohio and Yarmouth, Maine, is a provider of information to the composites industry. CompositesWorld's publications have the highest audited circulation in the industry. High Performance Composites and Composites Technology magazines, as well as the Composites World Weekly Newsletter, and website (www.compositesworld.com) are regarded as leading resources used by key executives from a wide range of composite manufacturers, fiber suppliers, fiber converters, prepreggers, end users, and capital providers to the sector.

SOURCE: Salem Partners LLC