Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A volume in Q1 totaled approximately US$778 billion, approximately 10% higher than Q1 2016, marking the second highest Q1 since 2011. Cross-border M&A activity accounted for 43% of global deal volume in Q1, above 2016 levels, and led by activity in the Materials and Healthcare sectors. Five of the 10 largest deals … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights This memorandum describes the procedure and effects of a cross-border merger pursuant to Directive 2005/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 on cross-border mergers of limited liability companies (the “Cross-Border Merger Directive”), as transposed into French law. We focus on the French corporate law aspects of such … Continued
Executive Summary: Canada’s new takeover bid regime got its first serious test with Hecla Mining’s attempted hostile takeover of Dolly Varden Silver. Under the new takeover bid rules, poison pills as a bid defence may soon be a thing of the past, to be replaced by private placements as the defensive tactic of choice for … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: A long-running, two-year effort by the senior corporate governance heads of major U.S. investors to develop the first stewardship code for the U.S. market culminated today in the launch of the Investor Stewardship Group (ISG) and ISG’s associated Framework for U.S. Stewardship and Governance. Investor co-founders and signatories include U.S. Asset Managers (BlackRock; … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A activity had a slow start and a strong finish in 2016, totaling nearly US$3.7 trillion, posting the second strongest year since the financial crisis (lower only than 2015). 2016 also accounted for the second highest cross-border deal volume (US$1.4 trillion) since the financial crisis, with cross-border deals announced in 2016 accounting … Continued
Highlights: Global M&A volume in 2016 continued to be robust, reaching $3.7 trillion, approximately 40% of which involved cross-border deals, as compared to one-third in 2015. Five out of the ten largest deals of the year were cross-border transactions. The pace of deals grew during the second half of the year, especially in the U.S., … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: The new Dutch Corporate Governance Code, issued December 8, 2016, provides an interesting analog to The New Paradigm, A Roadmap for an Implicit Corporate Governance Partnership Between Corporations and Investors to Achieve Sustainable Long-Term Investment and Growth, issued September 2, 2016, by the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. The new … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: The evolution of corporate governance over the last three decades has produced meaningful changes in the expectations of shareholders and the business policies adopted to meet those expectations. Decision-making power has shifted away from industrialists, entrepreneurs and builders of businesses, toward greater empowerment of institutional investors, hedge funds and other financial managers. As … Continued
Highlights The Australian public M&A market has seen steady activity levels, with modest growth in deal volumes (by value) in the 12 months to 30 June 2016 (FY16). Success rates have remained steady, with 73% of deals announced in FY16 being completed. The level of contested bid activity rebounded in FY16 with 6 targets attracting … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: October 1 saw the coming into effect of the most significant reform of French contract law since the Napoleonic code was first promulgated in 1804. We survey below some of the key takeaways for dealmakers. The reform was notably motivated by a desire to maintain the attractiveness of French law. One of the … Continued
