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of dealmakers are dedicating more resources than in the past to due diligence processes when considering a transaction

The current state

The Global Top 10 Risks

As businesses and economies emerge from the pandemic, the way we identify, analyze and make decisions about risk has changed. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the interconnected nature of the risks organizations have to tackle. A risk in one part of the world has consequences in another. Aon’s 2021 Global Risk Management Survey highlights how long-tail risks have become a driving factor in how leaders make better decisions to protect and grow their organizations.

Better decisions for deal value

Findings from Aon’s 2021 Global Risk Management Survey

Buyer Beware: Transacting ESG Risks and Rewards

M&A transactions are becoming increasingly complex, marked by features that would have been unfamiliar to dealmakers just a few years ago: the prominence of ESG considerations; the centrality of digital technology to most business models; and ferment in public markets. To understand how ESG, digitalisation and developments in public markets are impacting M&A, we have drawn insights from dealmakers and experts who are advising them. While these insights are wide-ranging, the core advice may be summarised as follows:

Coping with Complexity

Industry-Specific Risks

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Ayuna Nechaeva, Head of Europe - Primary Markets, LSEG

C-Suite Series: Mergers & Acquisitions

Nicholas O’Donohoe, Chief Executive Officer, CDC Group

Andreas Thors, Senior Lead Operator, Partners Group

Carlisle White, ESG Manager, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners

To understand how ESG, digitalisation and developments in public markets are impacting M&A, we have drawn insights from dealmakers and experts who are advising them.

The Expert Panel Featured in the Report

Top Risks by Region

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North America

Latin America

Europe

Middle East & Africa

Asia Pacific

Top 3 Risks

1. Cyber Attacks/Data Breach

2. Business Interruption

3. Damage to Reputation/Brand

Top 3 Risks

1. Economic Slowdown/Slow Recovery

2. Business Interruption

3. Commodity Price Risk/Scarcity of Materials

Top 3 Risks

1. Business Interruption

2. Commodity Price Risk/Scarcity of Materials

3. Economic Slowdown/Slow Recovery

Top 3 Risks

2. Cyber Attacks/Data Breach

3. Business Interruption

1. Economic Slowdown/Slow Recovery

Top 3 Risks

2. Cyber Attacks/Data Breach

1. Business Interruption

3. Economic Slowdown/Slow Recovery

Today’s business leaders must respond to more risks than ever before. The findings from our survey provide insights into the biggest risks facing organizations like yours, both now and in the future. To compile this report, we asked over 2,300 risk managers and c-suite professionals from 60 countries and 16 industries about their key risks and how they manage and mitigate them.

Use Data and Insights to Make Better Decisions

2021 Global Risk Management Survey

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Featured Insights

Navigating New Forms of Volatility

Organizations must tackle volatility on two fronts: Managing current issues while strengthening strategies for future growth.

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Building a Resilient Workforce

With the fundamental shift in where, how and when work gets done, employers face vital decisions on how to enable an agile and high-performing workforce.

Rethinking Access to Capital

To accelerate growth, organizations will need to find new funding solutions.

Addressing the Underserved

In a world of rapid social and economic change, we find ways to protect individuals and help communities and companies recover and thrive.

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As the results of our 2021 Global Risk Management Survey show, patterns emerge that can help organizations tackle existing and emerging risks. Based on today’s landscape, business leaders are facing a once-in-a-lifetime set of challenges. Data, insights, and expert analysis will be critical to decision-making. Explore our areas of focus:

Dealmakers have rarely experienced a period like it. Each quarter since late 2020 seems to set new records in terms of global deal value or volume, as recovery in M&A activity from the lows of the pandemic continues. Records are being broken in private as well as public market transactions: in 2021 , private equity (PE) firms engaged in the largest number of buy outs involving the largest volumes since such data started being recorded in 1980. Analysts have described recent M&A activity as a “frenzy”. Such an environment presents strong opportunities for companies to bolster their strategic positions, whether through acquisitions, IPOs or additional fundraising or, alternatively, through carve outs or other forms of divestment. Value creation opportunities in transactions are abundant, but so are the risks of leaving value on the table or worse, if litigation follows.

96%

Be Forensic in Your Diligence

Embed ESG and Digital in Enterprise Risk Management

Keep an Eye on the Long Term

The nature of companies’ key assets and potential vulnerabilities has evolved. It’s time for a new approach to due diligence.

Senior management must treat ESG, cyber and other digital considerations with deadly seriousness, as the associated risks to companies are rising. At the same time, fully integrating these into everyday enterprise risk management is the best way of ensuring that they are properly monitored and mitigated.

By looking at ESG, digital and other risks from a three or five year perspective, not only that of the next transaction, investors and companies can start acting now to manage risks, draw on new sources of value, and be ready to maximise returns from a sale or IPO down the road.

Transaction Principals

Claire Dorrian, Head of Sustainable Finance, Capital Markets, London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)

Maria Marta Geraldes, Head of Corporate Finance, Galp

Simon Dingemans, Managing Director, Carlyle

Marvelle Sullivan Berchtold, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Marvelle Co and former Head of Group M&A at Novartis

Natasha Good, Global Co-Head of Tech, Media and Telecoms, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Advisors

Piers Prichard Jones, Partner, Corporate M&A, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Adam Young, Head of Equity Advisory, Rothschild

Aon Executives & Experts

John Cullen, Chairman at Aon’s EMEA M&A Advisory Board

Meredith Jones, Global Head of ESG

Michael Carr, Chief Commercial Officer, M&A and Transaction Solutions

Robin Lawther, Senior Advisor at Aon’s EMEA M&A Advisory Board and Non-Executive Director at Nordea Bank, Ashurst LLP and UK Government Investments

Tim Giles, Head of Investment, UK & EMEA

Andrew Ballheimer, Senior Advisor at Aon’s EMEA M&A Advisory Board and formerly Managing Partner, Allen & Overy

Claudio Feser, Senior Advisor at Aon’s EMEA M&A Advisory Board and Director Emeritus & Senior Advisor, McKinsey & Company

Ian McCaw, Head of Digital, M&A and Transaction Solutions

Edwin Charnaud, Chairman EMEA, M&A and Transaction Solutions

Caroline Cormier, Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Upfield

Our key themes

Embracing New Dynamics in Public Markets

Making Digital Tangible: Dig Deeper on Performance, Value and Risk

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Why leveraging digital tools and strategies are essential to guide target selection, capture value and de-risk deal execution

UK M&A: two essentials for a successful buy or sell

Aon’s Jane Kielty – Chief Commercial Officer, and Charlie Garrood – Head of M&A and Transaction Solutions UK, look at how understanding...

More infrastructure M&A deals will fail or deliver disappointing returns if ESG risks such as...

ESG Due Diligence is the New Non-Negotiable for many Infrastructure Investors

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Our Latest Thought LEadership

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C-Suite Series: Mergers & Acquisitions

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COVID-19 has placed the life sciences industry front-and-centre in the ongoing international crisis.

C-Suite Series: Mergers & Acquisitions

Well-prepared carve-outs lay the basis for completing deals on time and giving new entities the best chance of succeeding.

Getting carve-outs right: Preparation unlocks value

M&A for Life Sciences: A Bullish Outlook

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As businesses adapt to a shifting landscape, this report explores the outlook for M&A in Ireland and emerging risks facing dealmakers.

C-Suite Series: Mergers & Acquisitions

M&A in Ireland Report 2022

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