 | | (Josie Doan/PitchBook News) | | | The widespread uncertainty around the Trump administration's emerging stance on antitrust has sent M&A professionals searching for a regulatory roadmap.
Though some sizable deals have been finalized since President Donald Trump took office, investors say many others have been put on hold. How Trump's Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice define a monopoly or unfair competitive advantage is still largely an open question.
The common Wall Street view as recently as the fourth quarter of 2024 boiled down to expectations that Trump's appointees would approach antitrust enforcement far more lightly than their predecessors under former President Joe Biden and that deals would surge accordingly.
But that hypothesis has yet to be borne out, according to Zheng (Jonathan) Zhou, an M&A-focused partner at law firm Freshfields.
I'm Michael Bodley, and this is The Weekend Pitch. You can reach me at michael.bodley@pitchbook.com or on X @michael_bodley.
From venture-backed acquisitions to private equity purchases to public company transactions, dealmakers say they're proceeding with caution until they have more clarity on antitrust enforcement. Still, prominent VCs including SoftBank have introduced new funds in the mold of Andreesen Horowitz's "American Dynamism" model, targeting manufacturing, education, supply chain and military sectors.
But there are already some signs that the Trump administration will apply ample scrutiny to sizable deals. | | | | | | | |
| |
| A message from AlixPartners | | |
| Navigating leadership challenges: Balancing growth with efficiency | | For 10 years, AlixPartners has been publishing groundbreaking research on leadership within private equity (PE) firms and their portfolio companies (portcos). Its latest report highlights how many PE firms and portcos are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their everyday work.
38% of PE firms are using AI in due diligence, more than double the amount from last year. Likewise, portcos see AI as the number one technology priority to improve growth-enhanced activities such as customer service, innovation and sales force effectiveness over cost measures.
Read the full report to see what other levers PE firms and portcos see as the most important drivers of growth, where the paths diverge, and key takeaways to improve value creation. | | | | | | | |
| |
Plenty, a SoftBank- and Jeff Bezos-backed vertical farming startup, entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the latest startup in the sector to shutter. Before closing, Plenty attempted a pivot focused on growing what food?
A) Kale
B) Blueberries
C) Strawberries
D) Cucumber
Find your answer at the bottom of The Weekend Pitch! | | | | | | | Startups enter the M&A big leagues | | Startups enter the
M&A major leagues | |  | | (Chuck Savage/Getty Images) | | | Startups are making acquisition offers that five years ago were only considered the domain of corporates. In 2024, over one-third of the startup acquisitions closed were by a fellow VC-backed buyer, according to our recent analyst note.
As startup buyers make bigger swings, Big Tech has shied away. Regulatory changes and market dynamics have curtailed many larger corporates' M&A bidding. | | | | | | | | VC secondaries: A $50B market
with positive momentum | |  | | (Lemon_tm/Getty Images) | | | The venture secondary market is gaining momentum, but just how big is it—and how much can it grow? Our latest analyst note covers the complexities of this opaque market.
While secondaries offer liquidity to investors as companies stay private longer, they remain a fraction of the broader VC landscape.
But with anticipated pricing transparency and structural improvements, they could see meaningful growth in the coming years. | | | | | | | | | | | | | Keep an eye out for these insights and research reports coming out this week: - Q1 2025 Global PE First Look
- Q1 2025 SpaceTech Vertical Snapshot Update
- Q1 2025 Enterprise SaaS M&A Quarterly Report
- March 2025 Global Markets Snapshot
- Q1 2025 Venture Monitor First Look
- Q1 2025 Enterprise SaaS M&A Quarterly Report
| | | | | |  | | (AFP/Getty Images) | | | Answer: C.
Plenty attempted a last-ditch pivot to growing strawberries, but it wasn't enough to save the company. You can read more about Plenty's bankruptcy and the ailing vertical farming space here. | | | | | | Sign up for our newsletter | |
This edition of The Weekend Pitch was written by Michael Bodley and Jacob Robbins. It was edited by Kia Kokalitcheva and Laura Schinagle.
Were you forwarded The Weekend Pitch? Sign up at pitchbook.com/subscribe. | | | | | |
| |
| |
| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 29 Deals | 196 People | 62 Companies | | | | | | |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment