On 19 September, Forbes magazine held its annual Federal Legal Forum. Dmitry Pozin, CEO and partner at Stonebridge Legal, took part in the M&A Renaissance: Myth or Reality? Debate.
The debate participants defended the following positions:
- YES, it is a myth. Foreign companies have left and now we see a transfer from ‘pocket to pocket’ or a transfer of assets to the state. Lawyers are not needed at all.
- NO, this is reality. We are seeing the start of complex corporate transactions under Russian law and anticipate a surge in M&As thanks to BRICS companies.
Dmitry Pozin supports the second position: “The years 2022 and 2023 were marked by an unprecedented number of M&A deals, many of which were driven by external reasons and occurred very quickly. Some of those deals could even be described as Distressed M&A. In contrast, the M&A market is now returning to its normal state, i.e., classic deals are increasingly prevailing, with full due diligence and documentation containing full assurances and indemnity obligations; while buy-back options are disappearing.”
Debate participants included:
- Anna Bandina, Director for Corporate Governance of Subsidiaries and Affiliates, Rostelecom
- Alexey Berezin, Head of Strategic Projects and Corporate Procedures, Cherkizovo Group
- Vyacheslav Bochkarev, Director of Legal Department, Roskhim Group
- Dmitry Kolomeets, Counsel, Voskhod Law Firm
- Maxim Novikov, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions, X5 Group
- Leonid Ervits, Managing Partner, LEVEL Legal Services
We would like to thank all the participants for their active part in the discussion, as well as Forbes Congress for the opportunity to be part of the conference.
Federal Legal Forum is Forbes magazine’s annual conference for the legal community which focuses on trends and tendencies in the economy, legislation and regulation, landmark cases and litigation, and the foreign and domestic policies of Russia that have a significant impact on the development of the Russian legal market.
Read more about the event here.