All deals lead to the US

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

All deals lead to the US

The question on everybody's lips following US tax reform in 2017 was just how much this would further buoy global deal making.

In both the US and Europe, interest rates already sit at historic lows, dry-powder remains at a record high, and positive economic fundamentals in the OECD have all aided corporate liquidity in a more than $3 trillion global deal-making market since 2015, according to data by Morningstar.

What's more, 'mega-deals' (those greater than $10 billion), have only been getting larger, with 2018's Monsanto/Bayer, Linde/Praxair and Time Warner/AT&T tie-ups all propelling the transatlantic M&A market's lead over Asia.

With geopolitical risk factors including Brexit, the rise of nationalist governments, and the US-China trade war all potentially hampering investor confidence globally, with the latter already slashing Chinese outbound investment by 23% in 2018, the US, of all markets, still remains the deal-market of choice, with $1.4 trillion of deals in 2018 tied to the US.

Only Europe came close, scratching the $1 trillion mark.

While all these economic vitals invariably point to an M&A market already favouring the US, it would seem the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act only makes the US a more enviable market for deal making.

In this guide, International Tax Review presents the insights of a number of tax advisors on how changes in tax laws and regulations will impact buyer/seller sentiment, deal-structuring, financing and investment/divestment, among others, in 2019.

While US tax reform and its changes to cash repatriation laws figures commonly, these are also to be observed in tandem to the many global developments spearheaded by the OECD.

We hope you enjoy this guide.

Dan Barabas

Commercial editor

International Tax Review

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

Luxembourg’s reform agenda continues at pace in 2025, with targeted measures for start-ups and alternative investment funds
Veteran Elizabeth Arrendale will lead the new advisory practice, which will support clients with M&A tax structuring, post-deal integration, and more
MAP cases keep increasing, and cases closed aren’t keeping pace with the number started, the OECD’s Sriram Govind also told an ITR summit
Nobody likes paperwork or paying money, but the assertion that legal accreditation doesn’t offer value to firms and clients alike is false
Ryan hopes the buyout will help it expand into Asia and the Middle East; in other news, three German finance ministers have called for a suspension of pillar two
SKAT, which was represented by Pinsent Masons, had accused Sanjay Shah and other defendants of fraudulent dividend tax refund claims
TP managers must be able to explain technical issues in simple terms, ITR’s European Transfer Pricing Forum heard
Prudential had challenged HMRC over VAT group relief; in other news, Donald Trump unveiled timber and wood tariffs, and the European Commission published a ViDA implementation strategy
Australia’s CbCR rules have ‘widespread support’ and do not put American companies at a competitive disadvantage, the FACT Coalition said
Baker McKenzie advised two of the member firms involved, while several advisers provided transaction counsel to US-based Grant Thornton Advisors
Gift this article