Many prominent shareholders, such as institutional investors and PE firms, are putting pressure on the companies they own to report on the diversity characteristics of their board members and to increase the number of women and other groups on their boards. And while many companies are responding to this pressure and creating roadmaps to improve their board diversity, significant barriers remain. To find out how companies are currently approaching the issue of board diversity, Toppan Merrill commissioned Mergermarket to speak with three leading experts.

Mergermarket is pleased to present Outlook for M&A in Israel, published in association with White & Case. The report, which includes a survey of 51 senior-level executives at Israeli companies, provides an insight into deal trends and highlights the challenges and opportunities likely to face dealmakers in 2019.   Key findings include: Dealmakers are optimistic about deal activity this year, despite concerns about the availability of financing. Seventy-six percent of respondents expect to complete more transactions in 2019 than they did last.

Mergermarket is pleased to present Dealmakers: Australian mid-market M&A Q1 2019 update, published in association with Pitcher Partners. Australian M&A was slow out of the gate in 2019, with deal totals for Q1 down 12% by volume and 11% by value quarter-on-quarter. Uncertainties – such as the impending federal election set for May, the fallout of the Royal Commission’s investigation into banking misconduct, and global frictions resulting from the US-China trade war – could all be contributing to the decline in investment activity as dealmakers.