Olympic slowdown for M&A deals

London has been busy gearing up for the launch of the Olympics for months and it's now finally here as the Opening Ceremony gets underway tonight.

But while the tourism industry and certain other sectors of industry look set for a boost, we've noticed that activity has gone a bit quiet on the mergers and acquisitions front.

Londoners have been moaning about the Games for months, convinced that the city's infrastructure is unable to handle the influx of people arriving for the event. But the business world is concerned that the missed tubes and delayed train services could lead to bigger problems than disgruntled employees.

Lawyers have warned that M&A deals that haven't been completed before the Games should be left until they are over to avoid problems caused by disruption that is already spreading across the city.

Ian Martin, corporate M&A partner at law firm Macfarlanes, told the Financial Times: “Most advisers and banks try not to execute deals over August but [the slowdown] began earlier this year and [business] won't restart in earnest until September.”

A partner at another leading UK law firm told the paper that various M&A deals have been put on hold weeks ahead of the Olympic Games as businesses are keen to avoid the dangers of finalising a deal during peak disruption periods.

The uncertain state of the economy is also having an effect on the number of deals being pushed through at the moment but transactions have definitely been on the quiet side this summer. This could mean that the autumn is busier than usual as delayed deals come to the marketplace for buyers to snap up once they've tired of moaning about the Games.

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