On June 17, 2021, the online conference “Cross Border M&A – Current Topics in International M&A Practice” took place, hosted by the German M&A Association and Hogan Lovells International LLP (“Hogan Lovells”). The “Current Topics” were presented by four partners from Hogan Lovells.
The approximately 75 participants of the online conference came from corporations, large medium-sized companies, banks and other financial institutions or were lawyers from large commercial law firms. After Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kai Lucks welcomed the online participants, lawyers from Hogan Lovells spoke on selected topics about the latest developments on the M&A market under the moderation of Jens Uhlendorf, Partner at Hogan Lovells, Düsseldorf office.
The online conference kicked off with a presentation by Prof. Dr. Michael Schlitt, Partner at Hogan Lovells, Frankfurt office, on the topic of “SPACs”. He familiarized the participants with the vehicle of a SPAC and discussed, among other things, the question of whether a SPAC can be an alternative to a traditional IPO. Matthias Hirschmann, Partner at Hogan Lovells, Hamburg office, then introduced the participants to “Sustainable Investments” and their increasing importance for the M&A market. In addition, Dr. Falk Schöning, Partner at Hogan Lovells, Brussels office, spoke about the “Importance of foreign trade law in M&A” and commented on the latest developments in this area. The last topic “Distressed M&A” was presented by Dr. Christian Herweg, Partner at Hogan Lovells, Munich office. He addressed current developments in the purchase of a company out of insolvency as well as the new procedure for avoiding insolvency under the StaRUG.
Jens Uhlendorf moderated the questions posed by the participants after each presentation. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kai Lucks concluded the online conference after two hours with the wish to repeat a similar event next year.
Summary: The “Cross Border M&A” lunch talk was a great success. The variety of topics and the questions posed by the participants following the individual presentations highlighted the challenges currently facing market participants in the area of M&A from different perspectives. The practical presentations enabled the participants of the online conference to quickly familiarize themselves with the latest market developments and benefit from the practical solutions presented.
