The Last Thing You Want Is CEO FOMO Over M&A: Chris Hughes

Green shoots in the M&A market are for real and a deal boom is imminent — at least, that’s what the spreadsheets suggest. The question is whether a fresh crop of megadeals will yield another typically bad harvest, tracking the common wisdom that most takeovers end badly.

The thesis for more corporate activity is convincing. Chief executives paused dealmaking two years ago as the cheap money era ended and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saw war return to Europe. Many publicly traded companies are now sitting on sizeable cash reserves and borrowing costs appear to be stable. Large firms’ financial strength has in turn helped the ...