Lex Mundi identifies record year for global M&A market in 2021
Lex Mundi has launched the latest edition of its annual report on the key trends for global mergers & acquisitions (M&A). The Global M&A Trends Report 2022 draws upon insights gathered from practitioners across 66 jurisdictions. It finds that, despite the pandemic, 2021 saw a record year for deal activity. Through an analysis M&A deal activity across seven to thirteen sectors, with breakdown for each region, the report concludes that we should expect further, unprecedented global growth in 2022.
While the pandemic has continued to impact the wider market and M&A deal terms over the course of 2021, its impact has diminished from the preceding year. Across nearly all regions, practitioners agreed that due diligence was of paramount importance to doing deals in 2021 – 73 per cent of practitioners in the Middle East and Africa, 62 per cent of practitioners in Asia, 45 per cent of practitioners in Latin American and the Caribbean and 42 per cent of practitioners in Europe all cited it as a key area of focus for legal advisers. On the other hand, according to 54 per cent of respondents in North America, transaction structure was highlighted as the most pressing concern. The regulatory environment also continues to be a top priority for practitioners, with antitrust regulations standing out for respondents in Asia – 46 per cent of respondents agreed that it was at the forefront of minds. As for national security/foreign investment, 37 per cent of all European practitioner respondents agreed that it was a key concern when doing deals in 2021.
The report also looks at deal activity by market and across sectors such as financial services, technology and software, and life sciences healthcare. Across all regions, the majority of Lex Mundi member law firms expect to witness as much, if not more, deal activity in both public and private M&A during 2022.
For further insight into the trends and 2022 predictions from our member firms across each of those key regions, visit the website* for access the third annual edition of the Lex Mundi Global M&A Trends Report.
