Dealmakers Look Beyond Coronavirus Crisis for M&A Opportunities

In the past seven days, a higher volume of deals has fallen apart than been announced. The stark statistic, aggravated by Xerox Holdings Corp. ending its hostile $35 billion bid for HP Inc., sums up dealmaking in the age of the coronavirus: companies dogged by uncertainty and faced with a sudden cash crunch have started reining in ambitious expansion plans.

Those that successfully ride out the crisis are likely to find a very different landscape waiting than the one they expected going into 2020. A decade-long boom in mergers and acquisitions, marked by some of the largest transactions in ...