I was recently a participant in the International Bar Association’s 2nd Biennial Silicon Valley conference in Santa Monica California, focused on worldwide trends in Venture Funding, Private Equity, and Exit Strategies. The well-attended event attracted transaction specialist lawyers from all over the world. I was struck by two things:
- the audience was intensely engaged in understanding today’s M&A market compared to past experiences; and
- they were universally witnessing a strong deal flow in their countries and through cross-border deals.
Our panel examined today’s versus yesterday’s market opportunities, drivers and valuation trends, then discussed the impact of strategies to prepare for any kind of exit, public or private. Judging by the numerous questions and debates during this session, they were well aware that today’s market is much more real than the dot.com bubble ever was. This was very consistent globally. The lawyers are on the case!