The slowdown in mergers and acquisitions in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in March is waning, and M&A activity is approaching pre-pandemic levels again, with cyber-security risk now the top concern in deal executions in this new virtual environment.
According to a recent M&A trends survey conducted by Deloitte, 51 percent of 1,000 M&A executives at U.S. companies and private-equity investor firms listed cyber-security threats as their top concern in executing deals virtually, followed by “ability to forge relationships with management teams” (41 percent) and “extended regulatory approvals” (39 percent). Sixty-one percent of respondents further indicated they expect M&A activity to return to pre-coronavirus levels within the next 12 months.
