Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tatjana Paterno discussed how factors such as COVID-19 and emerging technology will impact the M&A market in in 2021 in a report released by Ansarada and Mergermarket. The “M&A Global Predictions: Accelerating into 2021” report provides insight from leading dealmakers in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, and examines research from a survey of 50 PE firms, M&A law advisors and investment banking firms across Europe to round out a truly global perspective on what lies ahead.
When asked about the main driver of M&A activity in the Americas in 2021, Tatjana shared the following: “Billions of dollars are waiting to be deployed and that is still the case. Private equity is still raising capital from private investors and now you also have SPACs that are raising money on the public markets. In the early days of the pandemic, we were thinking that the seller’s market would shift into a buyer’s market with distressed opportunities, but that hasn’t happened. There has been a huge amount of stimulus which has supported businesses that needed capital and lenders have generally been pretty flexible so far.”
In response to a question about the hot sectors in M&A for 2021, Tatjana predicted, “My prediction is that technology and healthcare will be some of the hottest sectors for M&A and within the economy. There is also a lot of disruption coming within the healthcare ecosystem from outsiders. For example, some retailers are now trying out models of healthcare delivery that are different from the traditional doctor’s office delivery. That disruption is likely to be a big driver of M&A in the sector.”
The full report, “M&A Global Predictions: Accelerating into 2021,” is available to download on the Ansarada website.