Public M&A Report

The slightly positive development of the market for public takeovers in 2023 continued in the first half of 2024. There were 13 transactions (H1 2023: 11). The total offer volume amounted to EUR 18.7 billion, a decrease of 13% compared to the same period of the previous year (H1 2023: EUR 21.5 billion). However, the previous year's figure was characterised by the delisting offer to the shareholders of Vantage Towers AG with an offer volume in the double-digit billion range.

We continued to observe a high number of pure and combined delisting offers and only a few takeover bids. The market in the first half of 2024 was characterised by a large number of large-cap transactions with a low average offer volume. With only two transactions (H1 2023: 7) and an average offer volume of EUR 201.18 million (H1 2023: EUR 416.46 million), activity in the mid-cap segment was at a low level.

These are the essential findings of the 02/2024 edition of the Noerr Public M&A Report, in which the editors Volker Land and Stephan Schulz, both partners in the Corporate/M&A and Capital Markets Teams of Noerr’s Hamburg office, analyse the market for public takeovers in the first six months of 2024. The report presents a multi-year comparison of the number and volume of all offers pursuant to the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act approved by the German Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin, the distribution of these offers across the small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap segments, the development of premium levels as well as general public M&A market trends.

This edition of the Noerr Public M&A Report also contains a focus article on the role of banks in public offers under the WpÜG, in which their most important functions are presented in the legal context of the WpÜG.