Purchase price certainty increasing in European M&A says CMS report

In a review of more than 2,000 deals done between 2007-2013, CMS’ sixth annual M&A Study shows that the decline in the use of purchase price adjustments in M&A deals in Europe continued throughout 2013, with fewer than half of all deals containing this type of provision. In the US, however, there was a growing trend in the opposite direction, with over 85% of deals containing purchase price adjustment clauses.

Vincent Dirckx, Head of the Corporate M&A practice at CMS Belgium, comments, “Our analysis of risk allocation between buyer and seller on deal points in M&A transactions in the last year shows greater consistency. This makes the European M&A landscape much more predictable than three years ago.”

The Study looks at deal points that are usually heavily negotiated in M&A deals, including MAC (material adverse change) clauses, purchase price adjustments and warranties. The data is broken down by regions in Europe and provides quantitative and qualitative analysis of the trends in the UK, German-speaking countries, France, Benelux, Southern Europe and Central and Eastern Europe. Where there are significant differences with M&A deal terms in the US, comparisons between Europe and the US are included.

Please get in touch with us, to request a copy of the Study, or speak to one of our experts. We can slice and dice the data to make the findings of our analysis highly relevant to your own M&A situation.