Publications

We are pleased to share with you the 2025 edition of the European M&A Outlook, published by CMS in association with Mergermarket.

An EU law update relevant to sellers, purchasers and credit servicers.

This study analyses hundreds of Private Equity deals that we advised on in 2023 and previous years, providing unique insights into market trends

The CMS Corporate/M&A Group is pleased to launch the 16th edition of the European M&A Study

Despite geopolitical tensions, fears of recession and strong inflationary pressures across the EU, as well as the fiscal tightening needed to contain them, M&A in the CEE region has remained reasonably buoyant. Findings from the CMS Emer­ging Europe M&A 2023/24 report, published in cooperation with EMIS, demonstrate the resilience of the Emerging Europe deals market as activity holds firm against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and strong inflationary pressures. Welcome to the 2023/24 edition of the Emerging Europe report.

Navigating for success | Your business is our business Our premier practices in Europe’s powerhouse jurisdictions consistently handle the largest volume of M&A deals, engaging highly qualified teams across geographies in a seamless collaboration saving our clients time and money. This is why we do more deals in Europe than any other firm. Our unique combination of deep local expertise and unparalleled global perspective empowers us to put together highly experienced, agile, cross-de­part­ment­al teams to handle the largest mul­tijur­is­dic­tion­al M&A transactions for the benefit of our market-leading clients. This is why our clients love us. CMS has engaged in building strong sector focuses for many years, before most of our competitors realised the importance of doing so. We are now a global leader in corporate work in many key economic sectors such as Energy and Climate Change, Hospitality & Leisure, Private Equity, TMC, Insurance, Consumer and Retail, Infrastructure and Projects, Life Sciences and Healthcare, where we act for many of the world’s leading public and private companies, financial institutions and funds. This is why clients from all business sectors keep coming back to us. Changing the face of law with our unusually strong focus on innovation and creativity, we believe in an open, next-gen mind-set, skill in listening and bold commitment to new and innovative ways of working for the benefit of our clients and of our people. This is why we are future-facing. Download our report below & learn more about our deals!

As the world economy increasingly embraces the push towards decarbonisation, Europe has actively sought to place itself at the vanguard of the discussion on energy trans­ition. Op­por­tun­it­ies to deploy capital abound as power sources switch further towards offshore and onshore wind, solar, heat, hydrogen, battery storage, new networks, carbon capture, and industrial decarbonisation. The latter brings an interface with other sectors such as technology companies (with power hungry data centres a particular focus), real estate, low carbon transport and decarbonisation of industrial processes such as cement, glass and steel production. As much as it is difficult, complex and highly political, the energy transition is also a huge business opportunity. To reach net zero by 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global investment in clean energy alone will need to increase from the USD390bn in the first half of 2023, to USD 1.3tn in 2030. Many commentators worried that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would put back the transition and shift Europe back towards fossil fuels. While it appears to have resulted in a renewed political focus on energy security it has also laid bare the financial and political consequences of relying on oil & gas imports, giving further impetus to renewables as a secure form of energy. Europe has also sought to be a leading light on the concept of “reaching net zero”, with the European Union (EU) having set out its ambition, back in 2019, to become the world’s first major economic bloc to be climate-neutral by 2050. This has added momentum to energy investment and M&A over recent years – 2021 and 2022 saw the second and third highest annual aggregate values of Western European M&A in the sector on record, at USD 59.8bn and USD 53.7bn, respectively, bested only by the anomalously high total of USD 89.4bn logged in 2018. Energy M&A in the region has been more subdued in 2023, but our survey demonstrates that energy executives are gearing up for a more active dealmaking period, with most expecting more opportunities and anticipating increased levels of investment in the year ahead. Capital looks set to continue to flow primarily to renewable energy projects and related assets, with solar and batteries topping the list of attractive subsectors among our respondents. Consistent with this, South West Europe takes pole position as the most promising region for investment opportunities. But there are thorns among the roses. Our respondents are cognizant of the challenges in the energy market, with supply-chain volatility and commodity price increases emerging as a prominent concern. This is unsurprising after a period of dislocation following the pandemic and amid a time of rising global demand for renewable products and commodities. Persistent inflation and elevated interest rates, combined with an uncertain macroeconomic outlook, are raising investors’ concerns, with financing risk (including the increased cost of financing) also coming to the fore for respondents. Overall, while some sense a recent softening of the market due to these fundamentals, our survey paints a picture of steadily improving investor sentiment in Europe’s energy sector, laying the foundations for a busier period ahead for M&A activity.

We are pleased to share with you the 2024 edition of the European M&A Outlook, published by CMS in association with Mergermarket.

The state of the real estate transaction market in Europe The new CMS European Real Estate Deal Point Study 2023 now includes more than 2,500 transactions. Compiling the study involved comparing all the transactions on which we advised in the period 2010 to 2022, enabling us to highlight developments and trends in the real estate market. The market response to our study indicates that over the years it has repeatedly proved to be a valuable tool when preparing for contract negotiations. CMS’ analysis of the real estate market in 2022 revealed the following key trends

The year 2022 started with various challenges, including rising inflation and energy prices. Then the Russian invasion of Ukraine added yet another one. Nonetheless, the M&A market in emerging European countries proved to be extremely resilient. The region saw M&A activity maintain a steady pace, though deal values were notably lower. Also, variations could be observed across territories and sectors. While 2022 brought a unique set of challenges, dealmaking largely compared favourably to pre-pandemic levels. Welcome to the 2022/23 edition of the Emerging Europe report.

We are pleased to share with you the 2023 edition of the European M&A Outlook published by CMS in association with Mergermarket.

Cash pooling arrangements & agreements - 2022 update We are pleased to present an updated and extended version of CMS Expert Guide to Cash Pooling. Cash pooling enables corporate groups to minimise expenditure incurred in connection with banking facilities through economies of scale. Cash pooling agreements must be carefully structured in order to minimise the risks of civil or criminal liability of the participating group companies and their officers, and also take into account the tax issues. Especially in difficult economic times like we are experiencing now, with a multitude of risks (raw material prices, disrupted supply chains, to name but a few), the importance of efficient cash management is growing. We see increasing demand on expertise on cash pooling. In this context, this guide provides an overview of the risks of civil and/or criminal liability associated with cash pooling in multiple jurisdictions in which CMS is represented and discusses the various means by which such liability may be avoided. Please do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to discuss with our team.