• Artificial intelligence, data analytics, virtual data rooms, electronic signing platforms, and video conference negotiations are now the norm in dealmaking.
• In 2021 Goldman Sachs dominated global M&A with the bank advising on more than US$1 trillion worth of deals.
• With Australia’s borders reopening after two years of hibernation, cross-border transactions in the midcap market are more likely in 2022.

M&A dealmakers are innovating and heading into Web3 as a combination of factors including border closures and emerging technologies lead to more transactions being executed without physical face-to-face interactions.

Sell side and buy side advisors are adopting innovation in all its forms with artificial intelligence, data analytics, virtual data rooms, electronic signing platforms, and video conference negotiations now the norm in dealmaking.

An online data room, or virtual data room, is an online warehouse of key documents about a company, or target. They are frequently used to facilitate the extensive due diligence process typically undertaken by buyers.

A report by law firm HWL Ebsworth has found that in some deals, buyers never even set foot inside the target’s offices, instead relying on virtual site visits to kick tyres.

There are a myriad of reasons why M&A dealmakers are adopting such technologies, not least of which include border closures due to the pandemic making physical meetings difficult, as well as the accessibility of such innovations.

With 2021 being a historic year for deal making not just in Australia but globally as well, more M&A movers and shakers are expected to move towards Web3.

Following two busy years in Australian M&A, law firm HWL Ebsworth has found anecdotal evidence that dealmaking has since changed forever with market practices redefined.

Last year, deals surpassed US$5 trillion in volume for the first time globally. Goldman Sachs dominated global M&A with the bank advising on more than US$1 trillion worth of deals, giving it a market share of more than 24%.