October 2020 saw the German M&A community gather together for Mergermarket’s annual conference exploring the key trends in transactions in Germany.

Against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this two-day virtual conference featured a series of panels, presentations and interviews exploring the impact of the pandemic and associated recession on many aspects of M&A.

One of the panels from the second day explored some of the changing role of private equity in Germany, with a group of expert speakers including Andreas Bösenberg, NORD Holding; Marc Brugger, LFPE; Inna Gehrt, Mandarin Capital Partners and Dr Nils Koffka from Allen & Overy. A lively discussion highlighted many key themes from across both days, including the fact that activity was reduced, but not as much as many were expecting. Some of the highlighted areas of activity included bolt-on acquisitions, and opportunities in the middle-market. Inna Gehrt commented that they had seen very strong growth in family owned businesses trying to sell their companies during the pandemic. The thorny topic of valuations also featured strongly, with a number of comments on how current valuations were moving towards being seller friendly.

Other panels explored topics including cross-border deals, debt financing and shareholder activism, and featured alongside a variety of presentations and interviews, alongside a keynote presentation by Dirk Schumacher, European Head of Macro Research and Managing Director, Natixis.