The new and updated 2025 edition of In-House View: Germany M&A, published by Lexology, offers a general overview of M&A practices in Germany, country specific analysis of standard deal topics and relevant trends for the next two years.
The German M&A market continues to see activity from foreign investors, although the transaction volume has been steadily decreasing since 2021
Germany remains an attractive market for foreign investors. Recent market activity was significantly influenced by global challenges such as geopolitical tensions, an uncertain interest rate environment and important political elections – from a German perspective predominantly in Germany and in the United States.
Carve-out transactions in Germany have become a standard feature in German M&A because of companies being under increasing pressure to focus on profitable core areas, driven by technological changes, environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements, geopolitical conflicts and rising costs.
Amid market turbulence and a dynamic macroeconomic outlook, M&A transactions in regulated financial institutions across Europe and notably in Germany continue to drive transformation of individual market participants and the sector as a whole.
A merger refers to the combination of the assets of several legal entities through universal succession (section 20 (1) no. 1 of the German Transformation Act (UmwG)).
In today’s innovation-driven economy, where intellectual property (IP) rights, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, software and trade secrets dominate company valuations, IP due diligence is critical for tech-centric merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. However, IP assets require rigorous evaluation to unlock deal value, mitigate risks and align deals with long-term goals.