The latest in a series of IntraLinks sponsored, mergermarket M&A, Private Equity and Restructuring forums, the Benelux M&A and PE Forum was held in Amsterdam at the end of last month and I, together with our Regional Manager Marsja Meeus and our EMEA Head of Product Marketing, Axel Kirstetter, witnessed some highly respected speakers play down the prospects for rapid, or perhaps even sustained, recovery following ‘the worst crisis in living memory’.

If you have been following our recent blogs on the M&A market, then the recent flurry of deal activity in global M&A will be of little surprise. The writing was on the (virtual) wall: quarterly Deal Flow Indicator results for Q2 and Q3 (read the results here) showed the beginning of an improvement in M&A deal volumes as early as July. Indeed, these optimistic indicators were echoed by the panelists in our recent UK Corporate Development webinar (watch the replay here).

On September 29th, mergermarket held its first annual conference on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Paris at the Hyatt Vendome. The agenda was divided into two sections: the status of the economy and the changing nature of economic transactions in M&A.

In the morning, discussions around the economy explored the advantages and disadvantages of regulatory guidelines. Many of the 180 professionals at the event shared their concerns about the current economic landscape, specifically a deep sense of uncertainty about the future. In France, financial institutions are waiting for new regulations, while regulators try to create politically acceptable rules that can simultaneously guarantee an environment where innovation and investment can thrive. The ultimate conclusion is simple: Uncertainty reigns.

Le 29 Septembre, mergermarket a tenu sa première conférence annuelle sur les fusions et acquisitions en France - avec environ 180 participants qui se sont présentés à l'hôtel Hyatt Vendôme - tout près du bureau d'IntraLinks à Paris. L'ordre du jour a été divisé en deux. Le matin était dédié à l'orientation de l'économie avec un fort accent sur les avantages et les inconvénients de la réglementation. L'après-midi a été consacrée à échanger sur les réalités du nouvel ordre économique sur les transactions M&A et «la mode» du moment, la restructuration.

The business press has been putting a major focus on the return of M&A deals both large and small in the current market. The positive increase in deal activity is not just a hot topic in the press but also on the proliferation of M&A blogs that have grown dramatically in recent years. In fact, there are so many sources covering M&A activity that it is hard to ignore all the news about impending deals.

The flip side of coverage on mergers and acquisitions (as well as all the related speculation and rumor) is the risk of exposure for the companies involved. The increased exposure an impending merger, divestiture or acquisition gets from multitudes of news sources and media outlets makes a real impact on how and when it is announced. And when activity is leaked before the companies plan to announce it there can be real consequences to whether the deal meets its initial objectives. The Cass Business School in London studied just these effects in a study with IntraLinks on how significant pre-announcement leaks are to deal-making results.