In 2019, global M&A activity switched down a gear although it was still the third-strongest year in a decade in terms of value and transaction volume.
With macroeconomic issues such as continuing trade wars between the US and China, tensions in the Middle East and, to some extent, Brexit, impacting cross-border activities, many investors resorted to strategic domestic megadeals.
At Allen & Overy, we regularly identify the trends that we are seeing on our deals. Over the past eight years, for example, we have analysed more than 1,250 private M&A deals that we have acted on globally to discern trends relating to deal dynamics, execution risks and share purchase agreement terms. Some of the trends that we saw in 2019 are highlighted in this article. Read more.