“It’s clear Europe is under-delivering, and it can’t stay down for much longer.” Speaking to Legal Week at the beginning of the year, Cravath Swaine & Moore EMEA M&A head Richard Hall expressed a view that many deal lawyers have shared for some time now.
However, the months since have seen transaction activity levels across Europe fall lower still, with total H1 deal value down 23% on last year and deal volumes down 12% to 5,854 – the worst half-year for European M&A since 2010. The second quarter of 2013 was particularly sluggish, with just 1,140 deals, marking the quietest quarter for European M&A by volume since Q1 2010.
