January 2016 ▪ Volume 20 ▪ Issue 1 THE FORCE AWAKENS: A were signs of choppiness. The Dow plunged RESURGENCE OF M&A IN in September and the IPO markets have been LAWYER slow to gather steam, with very few successful 2015 IPOs in the fourth quarter. We hate to say it, but the current exuberant pace of M&A deals By Frank Aquila and Melissa Sawyer may not be sustainable unless the capital Frank Aquila and Melissa Sawyer are markets can continue to deliver new, up and partners in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. The coming companies into the mix of potential views and opinions expressed in this article buyers and targets. Meanwhile, the Fed’s de- are those of the authors and do not necessar- cision to raise interest rates will also surely ily represent those of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP or its clients. have an impact on the M&A environment as Contact:
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[email protected]. After close to a decade of anemic M&A, Best of Enemies: Activism 2015 was “the big year” that dealmakers have Developments been expecting for the last several years. Sig- Activism was somewhat old news in 2015 nicant deals took place across a wide range because activism has largely matured into be- The M&A of sectors and geographies. Dealmaking in ing the “new normal.” The level of engage- health care and life sciences continued to be ment between issuers, activists and institu- very active, but we also saw a lot of deals in tional investors has risen to dizzying heights, consumer and retail (Kraft/Heinz, AB InBev/ with all the attendant professionalization of SABMiller), media (Cablevision/Altice, Charter/Time Warner) and chemicals (Dow/ DuPont, Cytec/Solvay), to name a few IN THIS ISSUE: industries.