Tag: Trends

Diving Into Delaware’s Enforcement of Specific Performance in M&A Transactions

Most M&A agreements include specific performance provisions that allow either party, under certain circumstances, to seek to have a court force the other party to comply with its contractual obligations. In M&A deals, a specific performance dispute often goes to the very heart of the deal – a buyer no […]

13 Top Considerations for Tackling a Merger of Equals Transaction Like a Mastermind

Just like the romantic union of global pop superstar Taylor Swift and Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce, in the business world, combinations of similarly sized companies – or so-called mergers of equals – can yield positive benefits if executed with care[1]. Successful mergers of equals transactions prove the age-old saying […]

Will A Bump-Up Exclusion Bar Coverage of an M&A Settlement? It Depends.

Public company insurance policyholders beware: In recent years, insurance carriers have increasingly invoked the “bump-up” exclusion, which is a carve out provision typically found in directors and officers (D&O) insurance policies. In many public company M&A deals, the shareholders of the target or acquired company will file a lawsuit challenging […]

Representation and Warranty Insurance for M&A Deals: Cooling Market and Emerging Trends

While representation and warranty (R&W) insurance continues to be used across a broad range of M&A transactions, its use has cooled as dealmakers navigate challenging market conditions. Even for deals that are getting done, a smaller percentage of private deals have included R&W insurance than in recent, more robust M&A […]

Cooley’s 2023 Tech M&A Year in Review: An AI-Generated Glass Half Full

2023’s much-discussed downturn in mergers & acquisitions – with global M&A volume and value down 6% and 17%, respectively, from 2022 – was largely driven by the slowdown in the tech sector, with global tech M&A volumes down 51% year over year, while other sectors saw marked increases.[1] The headwinds […]

Cooley’s 2023 Activism Year in Review: Wolf Packs at the Gate

As we look ahead to the 2024 proxy season (and beyond), let’s review the key 2023 trends and developments from activism playbooks, with a sharp focus on the ever-changing landscape in the technology and healthcare sectors. Momentum building for 2024? Globally, 229 campaigns launched in 2023, just under 2022 campaign […]

Cooley’s 2023 Life Sciences M&A Year in Review: Potent Mix of Creativity and Resilience Spurs Activity Heading Into 2024

In a subdued year for global M&A, dealmaking in the life sciences industry came in waves, with a busy fourth quarter generating cautious optimism heading into 2024. While the year saw an overall decline in M&A activity (down 17% from 2022), total pharmaceuticals and life sciences deal value in 2023 […]

Cross-Border M&A: 10 Key Trends From Across the Pond

It will come as no surprise that cross-border M&A is impacted by the world we live in, with geopolitical tensions, rising inflation and interest rates, currency fluctuations, and increased regulatory scrutiny all playing their part in making deals more challenging to execute. That said, cross-border M&A remained largely resilient in […]

Cooley’s 2022 Tech M&A Year in Review

Tech M&A in 2022 was a tale of two halves. The year started off with a bang, with mega-deals such as Microsoft’s pending $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter and Broadcom’s pending $61 billion acquisition of VMware inked in quick succession. However, deal […]

Cooley’s 2022 Life Sciences M&A Year in Review

Although 2022 saw a general decline in M&A activity in the life sciences industry compared to 2021’s frenetic pace (when deal volume was up 52% from 2020), life sciences deal flow in 2022 on balance remained strong despite the headwinds. Creativity was the year’s primary theme as biotechnology companies increasingly […]