Many large mergers and acquisitions are abandoned before closing because of value-creation, regulatory and political  issues. Even pre-pandemic, a McKinsey survey of the period 2013-2018 showed that 10% of large M&A deals failed. The pandemic worsened this: by September 2020, 82 deals had been abandoned (vs 58 transactions in same period in 2019). Prior to LVMH initially pulling out in September 2020 of its US$ 16n,2 billion takeover of Tiffany (initially announced in November 2019) invoking a French government order following a spat between the Trump administration and France over tariffs on luxury goods, L Brands Inc. and Sycamore Partners had litigated before agreeing ultimately in May 2020 to cancel the take private of Victoria Secret. Following court hostilities, Tiffany and LVMH settled on new deal terms in October 2020 with a 2.6% cut on the price per share, and the litigation was ultimately settled in January 2021. The September 2020 offer by Nvidia for Arm was declared dead in February 2022 following a FTC lawsuit and opposition from the regulators in Britain. The German government blocked the acquisition of a German semi-conductor manufacturer by a Chinese buyer in late 2022. Things in the Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard are equally getting heated as three regulators line up against the deal.  A panel of experience deal makers with Texposuruesday 17 Januarye to busted but also to successful deals will give you their view as to do’s and don’ts.