After more than a year of stalled merger and acquisition activity, the deals market is showing signs of life. Bankers, lawyers and private equity dealmakers say they’ve had more discussions about potential acquisitions in the past several weeks than in the past year. And “it’s not just kicking tires,” said Brian McPeake, co-chair of the Private Equity practice, to The Information. Formal, banker-led corporate auctions are back after a period when many deal conversations involved a single buyer and seller, he said. While the number and value of announced deals remains down from this time last year, the total value for the second quarter was up 23% from the first quarter, according to data from Dealogic.