M&A Disputes Report 2021

A Global Perspective: M&A Deals and Disputes Heading into 2022

Defying early predictions, the global M&A market has remained extremely strong despite COVID-19’s economic disruptions and is expected to remain that way into 2022. Simultaneously and relatedly, dealmakers, lawyers and private equity executives think M&A disputes will keep pace with the surging deal market.

Simply assuming that more deals lead to more disputes is far from the whole story. There are trend lines to that effect in recent years, to which the complexities of making deals in a pandemic have acted as an accelerant. As well as rising deal volumes, there are new deal structures, new investment vehicles, advances in technology and rapidly changing economic conditions, all of which have contributed to the number of M&A disputes.  Therefore, it is crucial to go deeper and look at the changing nature of the disputes, particularly in certain industries.