Mark Leaker recently presented on Mergers & Acquisitions - current trends.

The presentation covered common aspects of business acquisition and disposal transactions seen recently.

• We have observed buyers and sellers becoming more discerning and focused on the key terms of the sale document. There is a tendency to refine conditions precedent to only include those that are absolutely critical. Boilerplate and more generic provisions which are not particularly specific are falling out of favour.

• We are also seeing sellers enjoying more leverage in the current economic climate. The sense of urgency and distress we saw in deals a few years ago has tapered. Parties are negotiating on equal footing and are not shying away from insisting on carveouts, retention amounts and break fees to protect their respective interests.

• The key takeaway is that it is becoming increasingly important to have a specialist team of legal, accounting,  business advisory and tax experts assembled on day 1 to assist in facilitating the transaction. 

Download the Mergers & Acquisitions Presentation here