combuyn

When we planned and realized the November issue of M&A REVIEW, entitled “M&A in the automotive and industrial sectors”, we didn't realize how positively it would be received by the M&A community in the DACH region. However, as the topic is also an important one for Europe - think, for example, of the merger of Fiat and Chrysler, the takeover of Opel by PSA and Tesla's investment in SolarCity - we decided to make this issue available for the English-speaking community as well.

Our current issue is dedicated to these dynamic changes in these industries and presents you with insights into the latest trends and developments in the M&A sector. Various insights into different  market segments such as the chemical industry, the lighting industry or automation & robotics industries are presented.

But also an impressive number of instructive specialist’s articles on the automotive sector are provided.

We would like to offer you inspiration and show you the way to successfully organize M&A deals in these markets. 

Enjoy reading

The question whether insurance is still a suitable instrument to facilitate M&A transactions is not unjustified. After all, market forecasts for mergers and acquisitions in 2023 were cautious. Managers and investors have learned from the last crisis years and are aware of the risks of high valuations. The forecasts have proved accurate, as fears of a recession and rising interest rates have created many new challenges. If we look at the on the transaction volume globally, it has fallen by 4 per cent in the first six months of 2023 compared to the second half of 2022.

But how has the market for insurance in M&A transactions compared to the downward trajectory of the global M&A market? To answer this question, we asked Marsh's team of authors Dr. Philipp Giessen and Robert Nachama to give their perspective on the DACH market, which is significant in Europe.

This issue proposes a look at current market developments, existing instruments and the latest trends in transaction risk insurance from different perspectives.

We would like to thank our partners from insurers, brokers, law firms and other transaction participants, namely Acquinex, Arqis, DBR-Holding & Allianz Global Investors, HWF Partners, Liberty Global Transaction Solutions, Marsh and Reed Smith LLP, who have supported us in jointly undertaking this project.

"In a challenging market environment with nearly double-digit inflation rates and ongoing supply chain disruptions still originating from early COVID-19 lock downs in 2020, Portfolio Companies need to focus on three areas to continue to create value for their stakeholders: Finance Excellence, Inflation Management and Supply Chain Stability. PE funds, which have already been actively involved in operational value creation at their Portfolio Companies in the past, ideally with their own Operations teams, will be best positioned to navigate through turbulent times."

These and other similar statements can be found in the first issue of Combuyn, made by market experts from Goldman Sachs, Clifford Chance, Lazard, EY, AON, Dechert, and Permira.

We choose to publish the first issue for IPEM (23-25 January 2003 in Cannes), the place where the European PE community meets. So it’s probably the most appropriate to present COMBUYN to it’s future readers.