Karen Petrou’s Post

I have a feeling that 2025 is going to be a BIG year for M&A. While we have always watched this closely in the banking space, it is interesting to see so much of it happening with Credit Unions as well. They are feeling many of the same cost pressures that banks are and scale is the universal fix many are gravitating to. M&A carries considerable risk, especially concerning merging culture and values. It will be interesting to see how next year plays out regarding the continued consolidation of the banking landscape. #Mergers #MandA #banking #creditunions

The Merger reforms are a targeted attack on corporate agility to create businesses which respond to intense overseas business giants competition. Mergers are already a strenuous exercise in regulatory acrobatics as it is. I would not be true to myself if I did not oppose such a huge regulatory impost that would have very likely resulted in poorer business outcomes for businesses that so many Australians have benefited from. The laggard and dismal Coles Group supermarkets & Kmart were bought out through a merger, transforming both into modern and performing retailers, Coles now spun out. This is one rule for all, when really it is Banking, Aviation, Insurance, Telecommunications, and Transport Infrastructure Businesses that present the most intense competition deficit risks.

“The U.S. Department of Justice’s initial focus in evaluating proposed #bank #mergers will be on understanding and preserving the competitive dynamics of the industry, Assistant U.S. Attorney General for #Antitrust Jonathan Kanter, said… ‘We would be doing the public a disservice if we simply limited our analysis to a paint-by-numbers approach that looks at bank deposits in geographic branch overlaps… We need to take a step back and ask ourselves: How does #competition work in this market? If two banks are merging, what are the different services and areas where they compete? And will the transaction threaten to harm that competition or lessen it in a way that’s substantial?’” #compliance #CapitalOne #Discover

The Australian mutual banking sector has seen a number of recent consolidations in the face of rising competitive pressures and the need for scale. Unlike traditional financial services M&A, these merger transactions typically occur under a facilitative legislative regime (the Financial Sector (Transfer and Restructure) Act 1999 (Cth) and raise particular complexities and legal issues that need to be navigated. In our latest article, we delve into the key issues surrounding customer-owned bank mergers: https://lnkd.in/gYRAztjD Authors: Siobhan Doherty, Haydn Flack, Sarah Park

Mergers and acquisitions rebounded in the first quarter after a disappointing 2023. Global M&A volumes increased by 30% to $755.1 billion, according to the most current Dealogic statistics. The number of deals worth more than $10 billion increased to 14, from five in the same period last year. It looks like this year is going to be a busy one! #mna #mergers #mergersandacquisitions #deals #finance #transactions https://lnkd.in/gbKDhYYc

I'm with you Ancin Cooley, CIA, CISA so many of these credit union mergers feel icky. I focus my spare time on helping groups that want to start new credit unions and that is the opposite of icky. But guess what they lack? Sufficient capital to open their doors...and yet.....what if credit unions in the US were like cooperatives in Italy and we were required to contribute 3% of earnings to use as capital to start new cooperatives (credit unions). . . .hmmm....that's the credit union difference. #peoplehelpingpeople

Goldman Sachs and UBS were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in South and Central America during the first half (H1) of 2024, according to GlobalData’s latest league table. #GoldmanSachs #UBS #Mergers #Aquisitions #MA #FinancialAdvisors #USA #SouthAmerica #CentralAmerica

Why non-transparent managers are behind most failed acquisitions LINK: https://lnkd.in/eyGQW5Sx #BankingAndFinanceNews #MergersAcquisitions #MA #MandA Please Repost

This year, Q1 served as a bounce-back for #mergers and #acquisitions after a lackluster 2023. The return of mega deals helped kick off 2024 on the right note. “Total M&A volumes globally climbed 30% to about $755.1 billion” according to Dealogic. Additionally, “The number of transactions worth more than $10 billion jumped to 14, compared with five during the same period last year.” I will tell you Virtas Partners certainly felt this in our Q1 results with a noticeable increase in our #duediligence and #qualityofearnings assignments after a similarly lackluster 2023! Let's hope this is a trend that will continue over the coming quarters... Thank you to Jackson Trembley for passing on this intriguing resource from Reuters. Great news to see. #mergersandacquisitions #trends #Q1 #deals #officeofthefo

Money matters should be left to those who create wealth rather than those who siphon it, and businesses should bear the costs of the choices being made. Moreover, the role of consumers shouldn’t be sidelined by government agencies claiming to be working on our behalf. We can vote with our dollars on what is of value and what is not. Carl Menger once said that “Man himself is the beginning and the end of every economy” and Charlie Munger has asserted that “If you have a dumb incentive system, you get dumb outcomes.” I completely agree with both Menger and Munger and would like to add that if you have distorted incentives, you get distorted outcomes. Such is the nature of the political realm, which is why it’s imperative to let markets do their thing and keep the government from getting in the way. https://lnkd.in/eAuN5Aqe via Foundation for Economic Education #capitalism #ftc #mergers #acquisitions #business #strategy