With the re-election of US President Donald Trump, fears of new trade barriers and further deglobalisation have returned to the economy. The US administration has already put a stop to some cross-border deals. Last year, however, M&A activity was still characterised by many international deals, as reflected by the winners of the 15th Corporate Finance Awards presented by Börsen-Zeitung. Almost all transactions either have a cross-border component, or are at least aimed at international growth. Which is no surprise, given that the domestic market has recently stagnated for two years in a row.

In the main M&A category, however, it is what at first glance appears to be a purely German deal that has prevailed with the jury. The takeover of Vitesco Technologies by Schaeffler may not appear to be a complete success at first glance. After all, massive job cuts have to be made, and Vitesco's electrified drive technology, which is intended to round out Schaeffler's offering, may not currently be as popular as Schaeffler had perhaps imagined, due to the slow adaptation of the technology in Europe. However, it was precisely the courage to set a strategic course in an extremely challenging environment for the entire industry that was recognised by the jury. While the electrification of the auto industry in Europe and the USA is taking longer than originally forecast, it is progressing rapidly in China, the world's largest automotive market. Vitesco has recently increased its commitment and turnover considerably here. In this respect, this „German“ transaction also has an international perspective.

Meanwhile, a truly international deal has prevailed in the large caps category. The almost 12 billion euro takeover of the chemicals group Covestro by Adnoc International, an investment firm unit of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, required above all political sensitivity.

Investors from the Arabian Peninsula have long been welcome in this country, as Saudi Arabia's recent investment in TK Elevators has shown. However, complete takeovers are still a rarity, especially within the Dax. The jury also recognised the persistence and comprehensive trust-building that ultimately brought the deal to a successful conclusion.

There was cross-border cooperation in several respects in the Mid/Small Caps category. The German family-owned Viessmann Group and US private equity firm KKR jointly acquired solar and wind farm operator Encavis, and delisted it from the stock exchange, in the largest delisting in Germany in 2024. Cooperation between family offices and private equity, in this case as an investment in sustainable transformation, is still not all that common. However, risk sharing between families and financial investors is likely to become more important with the expected increase in smaller family offices.

One sector that has gained in importance over the past two years is the defence industry. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have brought the fragility of peace back into focus – especially in Europe. This meant that the conditions were in place for a successful IPO for Renk. However, the listing of the armoured gearbox manufacturer Renk did not go like clockwork. After a strong price increase at the start, which was carried out as a private placement by financial investor Triton, the share price initially fell – partly because Triton, as a major shareholder, had intentions to sell more shares. However, the success of a stock market story does not become apparent shortly after the initial listing, but further along the way. The company, which went public with a market capitalisation of 1.5 billion euros, now has a market cap of 3 billion euros.

Not yet listed on the stock exchange, but also worth billions, is the winner in the digital category. The German translation start-up DeepL has achieved double unicorn status in the latest financing round, with a valuation of 2 billion dollars. However, the company founded by CEO Jaroslaw Kutylowski in 2017 is already a public limited company as an SE, and therefore perhaps also an IPO candidate in the future. In any case, the company has an international focus. Not only because of the professional translations into a total of 33 languages. Kutylowski, who was born in Poland, has predominantly Anglo-Saxon investors and has offices in Berlin, Austin and Tokyo.

Winners of previous years:

There was once again a lot of M&A activity in private equity in 2024. In the end, the jury decided in favour of KPS Capital and its acquisition of the Siemens electric motor subsidiary Innomotics for 3.5 billion dollars. The spin-off of the industrial group was hotly contested, so the US financial investor had to put forward several arguments to prevail in the end. It was the largest private equity deal in the industrial sector in the past three years.

The Corporate Finance Awards for the outstanding transactions of 2024 will be presented in April in cooperation with PwC. The size, complexity, originality and lasting significance of a transaction played a role in the assessment. The underlying entrepreneurial approach is also recognised. The winners in the six categories IPO, M&A, large caps, mid/small caps, digital and private equity were selected by a high-calibre, independent jury headed by editor-in-chief Sebastian Schmid. The jury includes Joachim Englert, Partner, PwC Germany, Alexander Dibelius, Managing Director of the private equity company CVC, Daniela Favoccia, Partner at the law firm Hengeler Mueller, Martin Reitz, Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking Rothschild Germany, Christoph Schalast from the law firm Schalast & Partner, Professor of M&A at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, and Vodafone CFO Luka Mucic. Börsen-Zeitung will present the winning transactions as part of a series. In addition, the award winners will have their unfiltered say in the podcast „Corporate Finance Award: Nachgefragt“. The episodes from previous years with winners such as Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges, stock exchange CEO Stephan Leitner and Max Viessmann can be found at https://finance-award.podigee.io/. Further information on the Corporate Finance Award, past winners and an overview of all series articles on the winning transactions published up to the award ceremony can be found at www.boersen-zeitung.de/finance-award.