FOLLOWING A STRONG YEAR, general consensus at the end of 2018 was that M&A activity in 2019 would slow down, if not come to a screeching halt. The headwinds certainly appeared to be against us, as going into the year and throughout the first half, we have seen a prolonged government shutdown in the United States, multiple failed Brexit deals, impact from implementation of heightened CFIUS standards and FIRMMA, renewed vigorous antitrust enforcement, and increasingly protectionist U.S. trade policies possibly leading to a full-fledged trade war. Individually, any of these factors could slow us down, but together....