It feels a little bit like we’ve been waiting for something to happen for almost two years. Now, finally, it looks like things are moving, and lots of businesses are seizing their opportunity now to take part in mergers and acquisitions and build their presence within their chosen marketplace.
But the market doesn’t stay the same. There are peaks and troughs, trends and fluctuations, and you might be wondering what’s in store for M&As in 2022.
Here are our predictions.
Virtual M&As
For the last two years, virtual M&As have been necessary to keep the business world moving, but now lots of people are recognising that they are efficient and cost-saving, so we’re likely to see this trend continue into 2022.
Virtual walkthroughs and meetings made M&A deals possible in 2020 and 2021, and though the idea that you might conduct business in this year would have been alien, it’s fairly standard practice now. People are a lot less uncomfortable with it.
You might prefer in-person meet and greets, but do not underestimate how much time you will save when you can arrange to meet a team without negotiating schedules and budgets around travelling. Virtual reality means dealmakers can have eyes on a sight from the comfort of their living room.
This also increases the speed of making a deal. When you don’t have to consider travel time, arranging meetings with multiple people present is so much easier, which means we’re having conversations about M&As in a much quicker and more efficient manner.
This isn’t to say that we won’t move towards a healthier mix of in-person and virtual deals going forward, as there is still a lot to be said for meeting people in real life, but it looks like the virtual world has cemented itself with M&A deals for a long time to come.
Leaning towards tech
Technology has been dominating M&A deals for a while, since it is a major part of the way we live our lives these days. Lots of businesses choose their M&A deals based on the technology they’ll be investing in. Technology dominated the M&A activity globally last year, and accounted for 30% of total deal value.
But where can technology possibly go? Well, blockchains and cloud technology are both on the rise, so keep an eye on those areas if you’re looking for an M&A.
We’re moving away from China
China is a huge economy and M&As have been centred around this enormous power for a really long time, but they have a new focus inwards and are significantly reducing their overseas investment. This could either open the markets overseas and help them to thrive, or have a negative knock-on effect on the rest of the world.
This is a good time to keep an eye on Japan and South East Asia, who might step up to fill the spot China is leaving vacant.
Environmental friendliness
The world is being dragged kicking and screaming towards environmental friendliness. We don’t have much choice about it. Overpopulation and our reliance on fossil fuels means that unless businesses move towards being more environmentally friendly we’re all in a whole host of trouble.
Taxes on businesses that pollute the environment and relief for companies that actively work towards a greener planet mean many companies are making the decision now to focus on environmental friendliness when they consider M&A deals. A good way to improve your environmental friendliness is to merge with or acquire a company similar to yours who already knows what they’re doing when it comes to that stuff.
Not sure where to focus your M&A activity?
If you’re considering entering a merger or acquisition, you want to make sure you are considering the right type of company. A great way to do that is to speak to a change manager as early on in the process as possible.
Since most M&A deals fail due to complications, you want to make sure you do everything you can to secure and strategies the best M&A possible, and a change manager will help you to determine how a company you are interested in could merge with yours on a practical level.
Your change manager will not only look at the potential new company and what they have to offer you in terms of revenue, but also how likely it is that their department and yours can merge together well.
Your change manager will fully integrate themselves into your team and identify employees who can help you make this change, then manage the process from start to finish.
For more information, or to speak to one of our experts, call us on 0333 090 8710, or fill on the form on our ‘contact us’ page.