Andy Parker and Ben Rookes, two of our Corporate Finance Partners, recently attended the REACH International Conference, which brings together corporate finance specialists across the globe to discuss the latest M&A trends and news in the industry.
REACH is a highly active international network of M&A advisory firms in 30 key deal making countries, including CP Deals. So, the expert insights came thick and fast. Read Andy and Ben’s key takeaways from the conference below.
THE DEALS LANDSCAPE: 2024 & BEYOND
There has been a significant change in the global deal-making environment since the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, which is around the time when everyone across the world felt things slowing down.
This includes:
- Decision making
- Increased due diligence
- Changing of minds on deals
- Less access to capital
2024 was a record year for elections around the world, with more than 2 billion voters going to the polls in 50 countries, including the US, UK and India. Because of this, 2024 looked to be a challenging year on the deals front, but actually, nothing too drastic has occurred.
Markets are still performing well and M&A remains firmly on the agenda. But will this continue into 2025?
Right now, impressions are positive and most countries are confidently looking forward to next year as funding for deals and appetite for growth are set to continue.
Private equity remains very buoyant in established territories like North America and Europe, while also creating more deals and investing in growing companies further afield.
After a short period of fundraising being more challenging as large pension funds sought to rebalance their investment portfolios post-Covid and the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, investment has started to flow again into PE funds and the ‘dry powder’ (cash they have waiting to invest) is again at record highs. Large pension funds in Canada are successfully looking globally for investment opportunities to enhance returns – a plan the new Labour government is seeking to emulate.
In terms of working approach, like us, our teams around the world are increasingly using artificial intelligence to supplement their research and deal processes to drive productivity.
The foundations are in place for a strong year of deal-making activity in 2025. Keep an eye on all the latest updates and insights from CP Deals to find out if that comes to fruition, and if you have any M&A questions of your own, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
