How dealmaking has been reinvented

IT WAS ONCEM&A thought that investment bankers, like sharks, needed to keep on the move to survive. Then pandemic lockdowns put paid to their perpetual motion between headquarters, airports and meetings. Greasing the wheels of mergers and acquisitions () took a backseat to corporate concerns about survival. Deals were scrapped or put on hold and bankers focused on clients that they knew already. Virtual dealmaking became the norm. As in-person interaction returns, will the new ways of working persist?Video conferencing has led to unexpected benefits for companies and their investment bankers. When travel restrictions grounded Wall Street’s jet-setters, negotiating multi-billion-dollar deals on Zoom made firms more productive and cheaper to run. Bankers swapped business-class lounges for virtual calls from their designer kitchens. Suddenly, with more free time, they could contact twice as many potential bidders for their clients, increasing the odds of a suitable match.