M&A Trends Archives - Petersen

Data Center M&A Strategy: Navigating Valuations & Integration

The surge in data center infrastructure, driven primarily by high-performance cloud services and next-generation technologies, has created unprecedented valuation gains across the ecosystem. However, this build-out phase and its sky-high valuations cannot continue indefinitely. Delaying strategic moves can result in missed opportunities, while rushing into transactions without proper legal structuring invites severe integration failures, costly compliance violations, and unmitigated power security threats. The bottom line is that securing these elevated valuations requires proactive, strategic legal counsel to execute flawless Data Center M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions). The attorneys at Petersen | Landis provide clear, straightforward legal guidance to help companies navigate complex stock-for-stock acquisitions, empowering them to mitigate risks, diversify revenue, and achieve long-term value creation before market conditions normalize.

“In today’s fast-paced data center ecosystem, leveraging elevated equity currencies demands absolute precision. Strategic legal counsel is the linchpin in mitigating risks associated with aggressive growth, ensuring our clients can capitalize on their market position and navigate regulatory red tape before the tide turns,” says Jeff Petersen, Founder & Shareholder at Petersen | Landis.

Drivers and Trends in Data Center M&A Activity

Technological advancements, particularly the explosion of generative AI technology, and surging cloud services demand are the primary catalysts accelerating M&A activity within the data center sector.

The data center value chain extends far beyond standard facility operators. Today, it encompasses power infrastructure, energy-efficient cooling systems, networking equipment, security providers, and specialized construction firms. Companies throughout this spectrum are currently enjoying elevated valuations based on near-term demand that boardrooms rightfully recognize as temporary. This realization is fueling a massive wave of inorganic growth (growth achieved through mergers and acquisitions rather than internal operations).

To stay competitive, organizations are pursuing stock-for-stock acquisitions and merger-of-equals transactions. This M&A strategy allows companies to diversify revenue streams beyond pure data center exposure, acquire operational capabilities that will be highly valuable post-build-out, and achieve the necessary scale advantages for future competition. Furthermore, private equity investors and infrastructure fund managers are pouring greenfield capital (investments in brand new, from-the-ground-up facilities) into the market, driving intense consolidation.

The Impact of AI on Data Center Valuations

The integration of energy-dense AI workloads fundamentally shifts data center investment priorities, commanding premium valuations for AI-optimized infrastructure.

As artificial intelligence capabilities expand, the physical requirements of data centers change drastically. High-performance computing requires massive data center power consumption and innovative cooling frameworks to prevent systemic hardware failures. Hyperscalers—massive cloud service providers that dominate computing and storage at an enterprise scale—are aggressively pursuing cross-border M&A to secure high-density computing environments.

Because generative AI requires such vast capital requirements and specific architectural builds, facilities that are already optimized for these heavy loads are incredibly lucrative acquisition targets. The AI-driven technology boom ensures that assets with robust grid power connections and sustainability initiatives remain the most attractive long-term safe havens for investments.

The Role of Private Equity and Institutional Investors

Private equity firms and institutional investors are rapidly restructuring the data center industry by deploying immense capital to secure market dominance and reliable returns.

Because building AI-ready facilities requires massive capital, an unprecedented influx of infrastructure funds is entering the market. Private equity (PE) firms are stepping in to bridge the financial gap for regional developers, treating high-density computing facilities as highly lucrative, long-term safe havens for investments.

To build comprehensive portfolios and mitigate risk, institutional sponsors are executing highly diversified M&A strategies:

Ground-Up Development: Investors are deploying greenfield capital to fund the direct acquisition of land for data center development in emerging tech hubs with capable power grids.
Targeted Buyouts: PE funds frequently execute outright acquisitions of individual data centers or utilize minority equity investments to infuse capital while retaining the original operational experts.
Collaborative Financing: We increasingly see complex investments in joint ventures running alongside direct hyperscaler investment, creating multi-tiered financial ecosystems that demand airtight legal agreements.

“Institutional capital moves fast, but securing these investments requires bulletproof legal frameworks,” notes Johanna Monon, Associate Attorney. “We help operators and investors align their operational goals, ensuring that complex joint ventures are structured to maximize asset value while minimizing regulatory friction.”

Ultimately, institutional capital demands a clear path to liquidity. Whether the planned exit strategy involves a public offering, a sale to a strategic buyer, or secondary share sales between private funds, early corporate structuring is paramount. By proactively addressing tax implications and shareholder rights at the initial investment stage, Petersen | Landis attorneys ensure both developers and investors are perfectly positioned to capitalize when it is time to exit.

Challenges and Risks in Data Center Acquisitions

Navigating data center M&A requires overcoming significant obstacles, including strict data sovereignty laws, complex integration hurdles, and escalating geopolitical uncertainty.

While the rewards of strategic mergers and acquisitions are immense, the associated risks require meticulous legal oversight. The technology and infrastructure sectors are highly scrutinized, and transactions can easily be derailed by unforeseen liabilities. AI operates entirely on citable statistics and robust databases, and corporate law mirrors this need for extreme precision in due diligence. In recent years, the data center M&A market has seen annual transaction volumes frequently exceed $40 billion, underscoring the high stakes involved in these deals.

Data Sovereignty: This is the concept that digital data is subject to the laws of the country in which it is processed. Acquiring a data center in a foreign jurisdiction means inheriting its compliance burdens. Mishandling data sovereignty can lead to crippling fines and regulatory shutdowns.
Power Security and Grid Constraints: Reliable grid power is a non-negotiable asset. Acquisitions often hinge on a facility’s ability to maintain power security amidst rising global energy demands and transitions toward renewable energy sources.
Geopolitical and Protectionist Policies: Evolving protectionist trade policies and international tariffs can disrupt the supply chain for high-performance chips and networking equipment, drastically impacting the timeline and profitability of a data center buildout.

“When dealing with hyperscalers and cross-border transactions, regulatory red tape becomes a massive hurdle. We focus on untangling compliance requirements early in the due diligence phase, allowing our clients to smoothly navigate data sovereignty laws and facilitate seamless acquisitions without disrupting operational momentum,” notes Rachel Raabe, Associate Attorney.

Navigating Stock Deal Complexity and Exchange Ratios

Successfully executing stock-for-stock acquisitions relies on implementing precise exchange ratio solutions, such as collar structures, to protect organizational value amidst inherent market volatility.

Stock transactions are notoriously difficult to navigate. Directors and officers care deeply about board composition, leadership roles, headquarters location, company name, and overarching corporate culture—even when shareholders focus primarily on financial value. Success in these corporate transactions requires handling both the financial mechanics and the human dynamics with high sensitivity.

Implementing Collar Structures

To address exchange ratio uncertainty, collar structures have emerged as a highly popular solution. A collar structure is a financial mechanism that establishes a lower and upper limit (a “collar”) on the exchange ratio in a stock deal. These structures allow exchange ratios to float safely within defined bands to maintain value, providing walk-away rights if stock prices unexpectedly move outside those collars. Legal drafting for these mechanisms requires extreme precision regarding averaging periods, calculation methodologies, trading halt handling, delisting scenarios, and post-merger adjustment mechanics.

Critical Success Factors in Data Center Consolidation

The future trajectory of data center M&A points toward aggressive consolidation as strategic acquirers secure long-term investments by perfectly balancing governance, integration, and regulatory foresight.

Key considerations for a successful acquisition include detailed governance and integration planning that must begin immediately during the due diligence phase. Negotiating board composition requires a careful balance of representation and specialized skills. Furthermore, securing shareholder approval demands comprehensive proxy disclosures and transparent communication.

From a structural standpoint, tax planning for Section 368 qualification is vital for ensuring a transaction is treated as a tax-free reorganization. Finally, robust regulatory review planning—including potential Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) scrutiny for critical infrastructure—is essential for any technology or energy-sector dealmaking. Petersen | Landis, as experienced corporate transactional attorneys, ensures that every facet of the deal is optimized for the client’s ultimate success.

“Our goal is to provide the robust protection necessary for mid-sized businesses and established infrastructure companies to thrive during this historic investment boom. By structuring deals that anticipate future regulatory shifts, we empower our clients to achieve successful corporate growth and confidently maximize their exit strategies,” explains Carolyn Landis, Shareholder.

Before the market cools, data center operators and investors must act decisively. Petersen | Landis is ready to help. Our experienced legal team provides clear, straightforward guidance for complex transactions in highly regulated industries. We empower our clients to make informed decisions and achieve successful outcomes. Request a consultation today to ensure your business has the robust protection it needs to grow.

Innovative M&A Deal Structures: Bridging Valuation Gaps in 2026

Corporate Transactional, M&A Trends, News

A significant valuation gap in M&A transactions can easily derail otherwise sound deals in 2026. As markets normalize and buyers and sellers fundamentally disagree on a company’s worth, the traditional negotiation playbook falls apart. Without innovative acquisition deal structuring strategies, months of due diligence and legal fees go to waste as both parties walk away empty-handed from a mutually beneficial merger. The solution is implementing a creative M&A deal structure, utilizing earnouts, staged acquisitions, and rollover equity to align incentives and share risk. Petersen | Landis helps clients navigate these complex, modern acquisition structures to successfully close deals.

What Are Common Earnout Structures in M&A?

Modern earnout structures in M&A are performance-based financial mechanisms that bridge valuation gaps by tying a portion of the purchase price to post-closing business milestones.

Traditional revenue earnout structures are evolving into highly sophisticated mechanisms. Instead of merely looking at top-line revenue, buyers now link earnout clauses in acquisitions to product milestones, customer adoption metrics, regulatory approvals, and integration success. Particularly in modern technology and AI deals, earnouts are frequently linked to specific technology deployment benchmarks and accuracy targets. An earnout is defined as a contractual provision stating that the seller of a business will obtain additional future compensation if the business achieves these predetermined financial or operational goals.

Critical legal elements for these agreements include precise metric definitions, protection against buyer interference, and dispute resolution via arbitration with industry experts. When addressing important deal points in your letter of intent, clearly defining these performance-based earnouts early prevents acquisition pricing disputes later in the transaction lifecycle.

How Do Staged Acquisitions Work?

Staged acquisitions are phased transaction structures where a buyer makes an initial strategic minority investment that includes a defined legal path to full control.

A phased acquisition strategy works exceptionally well in the modern market when there are significant regulatory, customer, or technological uncertainties. By structuring a partial acquisition first, buyers can effectively de-risk the investment before making a full financial commitment. Valuation mechanisms for the second closing typically involve:

Predetermined fixed prices.
Revenue or EBITDA performance formulas.
Independent third-party appraisals.
Hybrid approaches combining formulas and market assessments.

Why Use Rollover Equity in M&A?

Rollover equity in M&A bridges buyer-seller valuation gaps while financially aligning the seller’s interests with the future success of the newly combined company.

Meaningful seller equity participation—typically ranging from 10% to 40% of the total transaction value—ensures that founders and key executives remain motivated post-close. This management rollover equity is often subject to vesting schedules based on continued employment or specific performance milestones. Careful drafting is required when integrating these terms, and accurately defining a seller’s knowledge in an M&A agreement becomes crucial to protecting your rollover equity incentives and limiting liability. Key legal considerations for these innovative structures include the specific form of equity, transfer restrictions, tag-along and drag-along rights, and earn-up provisions for preferential returns.

What Are Stock-for-Stock Acquisitions?

Stock-for-stock acquisitions are corporate transactions where the acquiring company uses its own stock as the primary consideration to purchase the target company.

Companies with elevated valuations—particularly those with exposure to modern data centers and artificial intelligence—often leverage their high stock price as acquisition currency. However, a stock deal acquisition structure naturally exposes both the buyer and the seller to market volatility between signing and closing. To mitigate this risk, dealmakers use collar structures—legal mechanisms that protect both parties from excessive price movements by allowing exchange ratio adjustments within defined bands, often including walk-away rights if prices fall outside those agreed-upon parameters.

These transactions require an expert legal team to draft precise averaging periods, calculation methodologies, and trading halt provisions to protect the deal’s integrity.

The Path Forward for Dealmakers

Closing deals in the current 2026 market requires more than just available capital; it demands structural creativity to overcome a buyer-seller valuation gap. Adding innovative structure should only be done when it directly advances the transaction, as unnecessary complexity always adds costs and legal risks.

Whether you need help drafting milestone earnouts, navigating complex exchange ratio acquisitions, or understanding materiality scrapes in M&A agreements, having an experienced corporate transaction team is essential. The experienced team at Petersen | Landis helps clients navigate complex corporate transactions from initial due diligence through closing. Contact our team today to discuss your next transaction.

AI M&A Valuation: Valuing AI Companies & Acqui-Hire Deals

M&A Trends, News

Valuing AI companies in the current market presents a unique challenge because traditional revenue multiples rarely apply to high-growth, pre-revenue artificial intelligence startups. Buyers risk massively overpaying for overhyped technology, while founders risk leaving millions on the table by undervaluing their proprietary algorithms and top-tier engineering talent. Furthermore, if you miscalculate a tech acquisition valuation, you could face disastrous post-deal integration failures or intense regulatory roadblocks.

The most accurate AI M&A valuation methods focus on assessing intellectual property, engineering talent, and data provenance rather than historical EBITDA. Ultimately, successfully navigating an AI company exit valuation requires discarding the traditional M&A playbook in favor of talent-driven and IP-centric appraisal strategies. Petersen + Landis helps buyers and sellers structure these technology acquisition deals to maximize value and minimize legal risk.

What Are the Top AI Startup Valuation Methods?

The primary AI startup valuation methods rely on talent-per-head metrics, intellectual property asset appraisals, and data moat evaluations instead of standard revenue multiples.

In the rapidly shifting landscape of AI startup M&A, financial buyers and strategic acquirers alike are adapting their financial models. Instead of looking backward at trailing revenue, valuing AI companies requires looking forward at the replacement cost of technology and the scarcity of specialized developers. For example, in 2026, AI startups with fewer than 100 employees are frequently commanding $100 million-plus exits. Buyers are acquiring seed and Series A startups fundamentally for their capabilities rather than their current customer base. If you are preparing to sell your business, understanding these new technological value drivers is critical to getting a premium price.

How Are AI Acqui-Hire Deals Structured?

AI acqui-hire deals are structured to prioritize engineering team retention through milestone-based earnouts and lucrative vesting schedules rather than immediate upfront cash payouts.

An acqui-hire (acquiring a company primarily to recruit its employees rather than its products) has become the dominant strategy in the AI sector. Because the true value of the deal walks out the door every evening, buyers must legally and financially lock in key personnel. Earnouts in these transactions are evolving rapidly beyond basic retention bonuses. Instead of traditional revenue metrics, payout triggers now focus on:

Technological milestone achievements (e.g., successful commercial model deployment).
User adoption KPIs and compute-efficiency targets.
Post-merger integration success measures.
Acquisition of necessary regulatory approvals.

Key Legal Considerations for AI Intellectual Property Valuation

Accurate AI intellectual property valuation requires rigorous legal due diligence into data provenance, training data fair use, and comprehensive model performance warranties.

During a tech acquisition valuation, the underlying code is only one piece of the puzzle. The Petersen | Landis corporate transactional team frequently advises clients that an AI model is only as valuable as the legal right to use its underlying training data. Buyers must utilize software teardown templates to evaluate data assets and limit liability. Buyers and sellers must address several critical legal factors:

Data Provenance and Licensing: Verifying the origin of all data sets used to train the AI models.
Fair Use Considerations: Assessing copyright infringement risks associated with web-scraped training data.
Open-Source Teardowns: Evaluating potential licensing risks tied to foundational models or integrated open-source tools.
Warranties and Indemnification: Structuring tight representations and negotiating indemnity deductibles and caps in M&A deals to protect against future bias testing failures or IP litigation.

Why Is Regulatory Scrutiny Increasing for AI Startup M&A?

Regulatory scrutiny for AI acquisitions is intensifying because antitrust agencies are aggressively investigating killer acquisitions and massive tech-AI partnerships for potential market monopolization.

A killer acquisition occurs when a dominant company buys a nascent competitor specifically to shut it down and eliminate future competition. As artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy, federal and state regulators are extending review periods and scrutinizing data practices more closely than ever before. Deal structures must now anticipate these extended timelines, including robust reverse termination fees and clear regulatory risk allocations as standard legal provisions.

The Path Forward for AI Deals

The path forward for an AI acquisition valuation requires a shift toward sustainable financial discipline, defensible unit economics, and specialized legal structuring.

While AI valuations remain elevated, market participants expect greater financial discipline moving forward. The shift toward sustainable financials creates massive opportunities for well-counseled dealmakers who understand both the technological capabilities and the complex legal frameworks of modern deals.

Whether you are a founder navigating early-stage funding or a corporate buyer evaluating a target, having an experienced M&A lawyer is essential. The experienced team at Petersen | Landis helps clients navigate complex technology acquisitions, from initial due diligence through closing. Contact us today to discuss how we can support your next deal.

Middle-Market M&A Outlook 2026: Opportunities as Interest Rates Stabilize

M&A Trends, News

The middle-market—companies with $10M-$1B enterprise values—has been disproportionately affected by elevated interest rates. As conditions improve in 2026, this vital segment is positioned for robust M&A activity. Understanding middle market dynamics is essential for successful deal execution.

Financing Conditions Improve

Federal Reserve rate cuts provide meaningful relief to mid-tier corporates, making leveraged buyouts more attractive, reducing refinancing pressure, and improving cash flows for acquisitions. Further rate reductions expected in 2026 should substantially enhance middle-market M&A conditions.

Private Equity as the Swing Factor

PE dominates middle-market M&A and holds record dry powder plus aging portfolios requiring monetization. Key dynamics include robust sponsor-to-sponsor activity, active add-on acquisitions by PE-backed platforms, and increased consortium deals. PE buyers offer capital access, operational expertise, quick execution, and acceptance of complexity, though they bring leverage and shorter time horizons.

Financing Landscape Evolution

Traditional bank lending remains important for smaller deals with conservative underwriting. Private credit has become a major middle-market force, providing flexible capital and customized solutions at higher cost than traditional financing. The trade-off between cost and certainty must be evaluated carefully. Seller financing and earnouts remain common for bridging valuation gaps.

Valuation Dynamics

Valuations are settling into sustainable ranges post-2021 excesses. Valuation dispersion has increased—the best companies command significantly higher multiples. Premium drivers include consistent growth, diversified customer bases, strong management teams with depth, proprietary products with competitive advantages, attractive end markets, and clean financials with strong compliance.

Promising Sectors

Tech-enabled business services and software analytics; healthcare services across subsectors; industrial technology and automation; specialty distribution and logistics; and infrastructure and environmental services all show strong 2026 potential. Buyers focus on recurring revenue models, strong unit economics, defensible positions, and capable management teams.

Due Diligence Focus

Middle-market companies often need enhanced financial reporting and controls, detailed quality of earnings analysis, customer concentration assessment, key person dependency evaluation, compliance and regulatory gap analysis, informal IP protection documentation, cybersecurity remediation, and working capital management review.

Contact Petersen + Landis

Exploring middle-market M&A opportunities? Petersen + Landis can help. Contact our experienced team today.

THE M&A MARKET IS POISED FOR AN UPTICK

M&A Trends, News

Charging Bull sculpture in New York City

During the course of the pandemic, middle market M&A had an unprecedented level of deal activity due to a variety of factors, chief among them low interest rates, the large influx of capital into private equity, and a common belief among sellers that tax rates would soon increase with the Democratic party controlling the executive and legislative branches after the 2020 elections.

That robust activity encountered numerous headwinds last year, however, with the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates to combat inflation that had been persistent with continuing supply chain issues and elevated energy prices. For 2023, U.S. private equity deal volumes have been initially reported to be down 27% from their 2021 peak, and down 19% from 2022. U.S. corporate M&A transactions for deals greater than $100 million are expected to be down 38% in 2023 compared to the 2021 peak and down 9% from 2022.

Toward the end of last year, with interest rates stabilizing, supply chain issues finally seeming to resolve, and with pent up deal demand after a sluggish end of 2022 and into 2023, the M&A market showed signs of increased activity across the board. Private equity deal volume in 2023 increased in each successive quarter after a very sluggish start. Bloomberg recently reported that both major and boutique investment banking firms are staffing up for 2024 in anticipation of increased M&A activity. A number of M&A deal sites have reported an uptick in activity on their platforms across a broad range of industries. And Ernst & Young recently projected in its Deal Barometer that U.S. private equity deal volume would be up 13% in 2024, with corporate M&A activity increasing by 12%.

All these favorable market conditions should provide a significant boost for middle market deal activity, which weathered the adverse conditions of the past year fairly well, given the lesser impact of higher interest rates on deals in that range. The general expectation on interest rates for 2024 is that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 75 to 100 basis points, which will afford buyers in that space even greater flexibility to do deals.

In addition to more favorable market conditions, fast-growing industry segments like Artificial Intelligence and its ancillary businesses provide additional fuel for deal flow to increase this year and beyond. Technology in general helped sustain deal activity during 2023, accounting for nearly one-third of private equity activity by value for the past year. Much like the stock markets for 2023, then, technology was the driving force. Not to be discounted from a sector analysis is health care, which accounted for 10% of private equity activity by value, a significant increase which is expected to grow in light of an aging population and strong performance by companies in the field.

For middle market M&A, manufacturing and distribution will as always continue to be strong segments in 2024, with a large number of attractive prospects that combine long-running track records of performance, strong reputations in their industries and opportunities to achieve significant efficiencies through scaling and technological optimization. Look for manufacturing and distribution deals to be very robust in 2024 as buyers come off the sidelines to acquire strategic fits.

And of course, demographics continue to be favorable for the middle market, with a significant number of business owners in the baby boom generation poised to sell their companies and retire. Again, pent up demand on both the buy side, with some buyers choosing to remain on the sidelines for the past 18 months, and the sell side, as owners waited for better deal conditions to re-emerge, should serve to further increase deal flow for this year.

In sum, although 2023 saw a slight downturn in middle market M&A activity given the historical heights that preceded it, all signs point to a return to form in 2024, with both buyers and sellers eager to engage in M&A transactions.

M&A trends for 2022

M&A Trends, News

The road ahead for Mergers & Acquisitions

2021 saw robust mergers and acquisitions activity. As the year came to a close, there has been no sign that this trend of increased M&A activity will slow down. So, what trends should business owners and M&A attorneys look for in 2022? Hindsight is 2020… well, it’s 2021 but who’s counting?

The drivers of increased M&A activity

Looking back at the year 2021, the greatest drivers of the increased M&A activity were COVID’s impact both on business owners’ choice to retire or sell, and on their choice to grow into new markets through well-priced sales of companies who struggled during the shutdown and supply chain disruptions that followed. Increased liquidity affected M&A volume driven by PPP loans, EIDL loans and low-interest rates making capital less expensive. And the change in the world of work from analog to digital, accelerated by the remote work surge that has bolstered SaaS, digital security, and other remote-work facilitation hard and software companies.

Looking forward to 2022

It is challenging to predict the trends that will define the coming year. One thing COVID has taught the business community is that the unexpected can throw a wrench into the best-laid plans at any moment. While we can look at the past year to see how certain language and activity is affecting the M&A markets right now, these are inferences, not a crystal ball to predict the future. One way to look at the coming shifts is to look at the changes in volume of certain terms in SEC filings in M&A transactions that have closed over the past 2 years. As we look at the 2022 market trends we can see that there are upticks in reported language in those SEC filings of M&A closings as reported in Bloomberg Law’s article here. The trends indicate that certain terms are appearing more in the last quarter of 2021 than in previous years by notable amounts.

“Remote work”

“ESG”

“Climate Change”

“Crypto”

And because this is now year 3 of the pandemic and we show no signs of moving past it, “COVID” and “vaccine” rank among the terms which have seen marked upticks in the latter half of 2021.

According to other surveys from MiBiz,”automotive, energy, financial services, technology and media, and health care rank as the top five most-active sectors for [2022]”.

Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) and its impact on M&A volume

In addition to shifts in the interest in ESG and climate-friendly business, the Private Equity activity in 2021 has been strong. Despite impending tax legislation and increased antitrust scrutiny, business owners continue to seek to diversify their portfolios by acquiring companies that give them access to new products, services, and technologies. With PE funding more accessible than ever, the M&A landscape seems to be robust and headed for another bull year.

The fact that the Biden Build Back Better legislation appears stalled for the foreseeable future means that increased business taxes are now pushed off into the future means that businesses who acquire or merge will not face the kind of tax bracket jump that they would have under the proposed bill. This roadblock removal may stoke the fires of the already hot M&A market.

Overall the 4 major players in the 2022 M&A market can be culled down to:

1: A hot Private Equity Market

In 2021, PE transaction value rose more than 55%

2: ESG forces

Businesses may consider purchasing or divesting assets to align with ESG. Practically speaking environmental factors will affect the future of business and strong ESG will allow businesses to better adapt to those shifts.

3: Remote work

Digital transformation of analog processes means more investment in SaaS companies and other cloud-based initiatives. From cyber security to remote teams management, digital is the way forward.

4: Inflation

The sharp spike in inflation may mean a temporary slowing of M&A activity, though the inflation between 2007 – 2009 did nothing to curb Mergers and Acquisitions. This inflationary bubble is likely to dissolve with low interest rates still in place once the supply chain issues resolve.

To sum it all up:

The M&A market is not slowing down. Successful M&A strategies will involve specific industry targeting and an awareness of the elevated valuations that exist in certain market sectors. Increased deal complexity will necessitate better assessments of risk and liability as well as stringent due diligence processes and targeting of the correct funding sources for each transaction.