Sneak Preview! — The Coming Migration of U.S. M&A

Check out the world’s changing economic landscape, folks.  The stage is set for U.S. merger activity to boil up in foreign lands. 

There’s a global structural shift underway—a reset of financial power on an international scale—and it’s sure to cause merger/acquisition urges to migrate toward developing countries. 

The U.S. and other industrialized nations will be struggling with their slow economies, trying to reduce debt and adjust to austere times.  Meanwhile, rising wealth is the defining aspect of powerful emerging economies such as India, China, Russia, and Brazil.  This explosive growth in the developing world will steal business investment from advanced countries.

The drivers of the oncoming deal migration are muscular and will not be denied.  As always in the world of M&A, it’s simply a matter of economics.  Dealmakers succeed by keeping their noses in the air and sniffing out the most promising opportunities.  These days, the scent they’re attracted to is growing strongest in the winds that blow from afar.

Dealmakers live by the mantra, “Show me the money!”  So as the U.S. gears down in economic activity, corporations will pursue growth in the financial hot spots on Planet Earth. Globalization, as we’ve known it, is poised to accelerate as executives redirect their acquisition efforts toward more promising geography.

The upshot? 

New deal models will appear.  The increasing traffic in cross-border M&A also will call for stronger competencies in due diligence…new concepts and models for “integration strategy”…better game plans for reconciling culture differences. 

Companies should move, now, to broaden and sharpen their skills in merger management on international deals.  As Wayne Gretsky would say, “Skate to where the M&A puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Make sure your passport is up-to-date and get ready to travel.