Global M&A activity in 2020 was a remarkable tale of two halves, with historically low M&A volume in the first half of the year, especially in the months following the initial outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, followed by an explosion of activity in the second half of the year.
Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A activity recovered in Q3 2020 as economies around the world began to reopen and dealmakers, focusing on existence-preserving activities in the first half of the year, returned their attention to M&A transactions. While global M&A volume in Q3 2020 was strong across the board, the continuing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A activity in Q2 2020 dropped to its lowest quarterly levels in more than a decade, as corporate dealmakers paused to weigh the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the responses of governments, businesses and consumers across the world, and many companies devoted all available resources to existence-preserving activities and not growth … Continued
On May 21, 2020, the United States Senate passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “Bill”) with unanimous consent. If it becomes law, the Bill would apply to Chinese companies, among others, listed on U.S. securities exchanges and require them to comply with U.S. regulatory and audit standards and information sharing, notwithstanding that to … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A volume was just US$730 billion in Q1 2020, a decrease of approximately 30% from Q4 2019 (US$1 trillion), approximately 25% from Q1 2019 (US$982 billion) and the lowest first-quarter global M&A volume since 2014 (US$657 billion). The decline in M&A volume relative to prior quarters was particularly pronounced in the United … Continued
Cross-Border M&A – 2020 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States M&A continued its robust pace in 2019, with nearly $3.9 trillion in global deal volume for the year, the third-highest volume of the last decade. The U.S. market was particularly strong, making up for relative weakness in Europe and Asia. The boom was … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A volume approached US$3.9 trillion in 2019, the third highest annual total in the last decade, despite increasing global economic and political headwinds. Strong economic growth, low interest rates, record amounts of private equity dry powder and the availability of corporate cash fueled global M&A in 2019. The boom was strongest in … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: In Q2 2019, global M&A volume reached US$1 trillion for the quarter and surpassed US$2 trillion for the year to date. Global M&A volume in 2019 is on pace to reach the US$4 trillion mark for the second consecutive year and only the third time in the last decade. The significant global deal … Continued
Cross-Border M&A Guide Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz recently published the inaugural edition of their Cross-Border M&A Guide, which is available here. This new Cross-Border M&A Guide covers the key U.S. legal considerations not only for acquisitions of U.S. companies by non-U.S. companies (or “inbound” M&A transactions), but also for acquisitions of non-U.S. companies, including … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A volume, which exceeded US$4.0 trillion in 2018, continued at a similar pace in Q1 2019, reaching US$958 billion. Global M&A volume in the first quarter of the year has been primarily driven by record levels of deal activity in the United States. It was the most active first quarter for U.S. … Continued