해외 M&A의 ë²•ì  ìŸì  - Sullivan & Cromwell

Recent Market and Legal Trends – Key Drivers
and Challenges for M&A Activity in Germany
Key drivers:
- Cash on corporate balance sheets and growing
liquidity of German corporates
- Shareholder pressure to deploy cash in some
cases
- Availability of cheap debt, low interest rates
allow especially investment grade borrowers
access to attractive financing through bonds
- Underinvested private equity funds and likely
exits of their current investments
- Favourable valuations, compared to a few years
ago
- Consolidation of core businesses leading to
divestments and spin-offs of non-core assets
- Need for industry consolidation in some sectors
- Opportunism as quality assets come onto the
German market through divestments by
distressed sellers
- Weaker Euro levels compared to other
currencies leading to attractive opportunities for
foreign investors outside the Eurozone to invest
in German targets
Challenges:
- Continuing non-resolution of Eurozone crisis
and fears of Euro break-up/bank failure
persists
- Concerns about potential economic slowdown
in Germany as global economic situation
worsens
- Restrictions on availability of finance, volatile
market conditions in equity, debt and financial
markets
- Private equity adjusting to credit squeeze
- Gap between buyers‘ and sellers‘ expectations
on valuation
- Shareholder pressure and activism gaining an
increased influence on M&A activity
- Increasing complexity of regulatory and
antitrust environment (now over 100 merger
control regimes worldwide) and deal failures
based on antitrust concerns (NYSE/Deutsche
Börse)
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