One of my more recent blogs was about Elisabeth Murdoch potentially selling her remaining stake in her company Shine Entertainment back to her father's company News Corp.

This deal is testimony to the determination of boards wanting to get a deal done.

It was reported last week that News Corp, Rupert Murdoch's media empire, is in talks to buy Shine Entertainment, the UK-based film and television company.

With just under two weeks of the year gone things are looking better deal-wise than they have for a long time.

If the IPO of ISS proceeds then the first major exit of the year will be to the capital markets rather than to a secondary buyout.