Executive Summary: A review of M&A in Belgium in 2015 and outlook for 2016. Main Article: 1 Legal Environment 1.1 General The general legal environment for public and private M&A remained very stable throughout 2015. In 2014, Belgian tax payers (private individuals) feared that in the course of 2015 the tax regime with respect to … Continued
Highlights: The Australian public M&A market has seen an overall decline in deal activity in the 12 months to 30 June 2015 (FY15). Success rates have increased from FY14, with 70% of deals announced in FY15 being fully completed transactions. FY15 has seen an increase in the number of bids implemented via schemes of arrangement, … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A reached an all-time high in 2015, with record volume of almost US$5 trillion, beating 2007’s prior (inflation adjusted) record of US$4.7 trillion. Q4 2015 was the most active quarter ever, with more than US$1.5 trillion in deals announced, including the two largest deals of 2015 – Pfizer’s acquisition of Allergan and … Continued
Main Article In our annual forecast of the year ahead for Canadian competition and foreign investment review law, we evaluate how developments in 2015 will influence these areas of the law in 2016. Our top issues and trends to watch for this year include the following: The impact of the new federal government. Although foreign … Continued
Executive Summary Italy is experiencing an M&A boom that is bringing volumes closer to those of the golden years (2005, 2006 and 2007). The acquisitions wave includes deals from both strategic investors and private equity. Infrastructural funds are now investing in Italy, where they find opportunities at prices more attractive than in Northern Europe, in … Continued
Main Article: Recently, there have been three important studies by prominent economists and law professors, each of which points out serious flaws in the so-called empirical evidence being put forth to justify short-termism, attacks by activist hedge funds and shareholder-centric corporate governance. These new studies show that the so-called empirical evidence omit important control variables, … Continued
Highlights: The Takeovers Panel recently issued a draft guidance note on when shareholder intention statements to accept a bid may be unacceptable. Statements of intention from major shareholders to accept a takeover bid or vote in favour of a scheme should be qualified as being subject to no superior proposal emerging. Shareholders should allow a … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A volume in Q3 exceeded US$1 trillion, a quarterly figure second only to 2015’s Q2 in recent years. M&A volume through the first three quarters was US$3.2 trillion (an increase of 30% over the same period in 2014), and year-to-date volume through the date of publication is the strongest on record. These … Continued
Executive Summary: U.S. public pension funds – longstanding proponents of corporate governance and shareholder proposal-style activism in the U.S. – are now allocating increasing amounts of capital throughout the world, and increasingly considering whether and how to globally apply their strategies and tactics for increasing shareholder power, changing governance norms, influencing boards and management teams … Continued
Highlights: Toward the end of 2014, the Belgian M&A market became increasingly active. Due to several factors such as a weaker euro, fear on the part of business owners for a tax shift and greater willingness of the banks to finance acquisitions, the positive trend of enhanced M&A activity continued in H1 2015. Private equity … Continued
