Overview of the German public M&A market in 2020 -

While the COVID-19 pandemic also had an impact on the German takeover market in 2020 due to the mood of uncertainty that dominated stock market activity, it did not slow takeover activity down for any significant period. The concerns that dominated world affairs following the outbreak of the pandemic in Europe and North America had the stock markets in a temporary stranglehold from March onwards. After overshooting the 13,500 points mark on 21 February 2020, the DAX 30 fell to its lowest closing level in six and a half years when it slid to 8,441 points on 18 March 2020 after losing 5.6 percent in only one day. The plummeting stock markets prompted a temporary suspension of stock exchange trading in the US on the same day.