Clifford Chance

Cross-Border M&A: A checklist of U.S. issues for non-U.S. acquirers

20 April 2021

Cross-border M&A transactions can be far more complex than purely domestic transactions. With advanced planning and careful consideration of relevant issues, however, it is almost always possible to navigate this complexity successfully and achieve the parties' commercial objectives. Here is an overview of some of the key issues that should be considered by non-U.S. acquirers contemplating acquisitions or other strategic investments in the United States.

While global M&A activity stagnated during the first half of 2020 after remaining relatively steady throughout 2019, due in no small part to the pandemic, global M&A deal value began to rebound during the second half of 2020, with the total value of deals in Q4 2020 up by 24.5% compared with Q1 and Q2 combined, and up 49% compared with Q4 of 2019.1 This paints a relatively optimistic picture for global dealmakers, especially those considering cross-border transactions.

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