Due to the hostile rate environment, we have seen that some investors (and particularly those in the real estate sector) have paused or even aborted their investment plans in the near future although others anticipate that we are now through the worst part of this rate cycle and we will slowly start to pick up projects again.

A new government may begin to tax capital gains for the first time, and this may lead to a busy start to the year to close deals before the measure is approved.

It is possible that the Trump administration will substantially decrease the subsidies to US companies under the Inflation Reduction Act, which could be good news for European companies, but equally any tariffs on exports from the EU to the US could negatively impact market confidence in Europe (and especially Belgium since Belgium is heavily reliant on export).

Overall, it looks like the economic outlook from a European perspective is still quite weak. With less certainty over US support in Ukraine, we expect an uptick in (public and private) investments in the defence and related sectors such as AI and cybersecurity. Currently, we do expect similar PE and VC activity (noting that PE's and VC still have quite some dry powder), but we do not anticipate so much activity on public markets in Belgium. In Belgium, investment in life sciences and biotech is expected to continue the positive trend.

In 2025, uncertainties around interest rates are expected to be less of an issue as these are stabilising and parties are adapting to the new normal levels, including relying less on traditional bank financing. We expect more real estate deals in the pipeline. In 2024, a number of acquirers in this space have waited to see if the market conditions would improve, but with interest rates receding, there is expected to be more activity in this sector. However, the geopolitical situation remains uncertain, and we will also need to see how the current elections of the German government play out in early 2025.

As regards venture funding, while 2024 has been a decent year, we expect the market to improve further in 2025. A couple of venture funds are currently closing with new equity ready to spend soon. Some funds also have waited to spend and are seeing a stable good market ready to invest more next year than this year. US funds have recently been cautious, particularly with the US presidential election, and the outcome will impact the venture scene next year.

It is probable that the EU Artificial Intelligence Act will start to be a concern on our tech deals next year. FDI considerations will increasingly play a part in dealmaking, and it is always possible for regulatory changes in this regard as well as further sectoral specific regulations that impact our key sectors, as the direction of travel is more regulation.

In VC, we predict there will be more later stage funding and also larger rounds. As regards very large rounds and funding of unicorns and very late-stage companies, the market is harder to predict, but we anticipate funding of this kind is unlikely to return to previous levels in 2025. There is some dry powder in larger funds that need to start spending on those larger companies again, so it may simply be a matter of time before that later stage segment of the market bounces back.

The M&A market is difficult to predict, but we think the market is likely to perform similarly to 2024. Larger deals may come back but our pipeline will probably be more driven by mid-market transactions, as this is the main focus of our practice. Digital transformation will continue to focus in many transactions next year and our PE work will continue to focus on bolt on acquisitions; private equity funds do have lots of dry powder.

Regulatory changes are expected including a new direct (income tax) tax law which should make things simpler.

The government is generally aiming to be business-friendly, and we are anticipating that there will be further reforms to make transactions easier and faster.

We expect that the restriction on investment from border countries (e.g. China, Pakistan, Bangladesh) may be partially lifted. The restriction caused turmoil in the Indian market, particularly as there was a fair amount of Chinese investment in certain sectors. As a result of the restrictions that were imposed in 2020, there has been a liquidity crunch in those sectors. It is hoped that the government will publish more targeted guidelines narrowing the sectors or conditions where the restriction would apply. India's largest trading partner is China, so a solution urgently needs to be found.

Other new laws are coming that will likely promote growth, investment and dealmaking including laws for data protection, intellectual property, telecoms and labour codes. The government tries to align regulation to that of more developed economies, particularly the EU, to attract investment and confidence in the market.

There are local state elections in November 2025. These may lead to states making changes to laws so that they can compete for investment.

There is strong pressure on the government to create jobs, so it is likely to give the manufacturing industry financial incentives, which in turn may make the sector attractive for investment.

We anticipate our work will be similar in 2025, but we are hoping to see renewables, TMC, and the manufacturing sectors continuing to be key. We predict we will see more deals in these areas and in the logistics space too. Deal volumes are expected to increase considerably.

We also consider it likely we will see an increase in outbound investment work. Indian corporates (mid-market, particularly) are becoming more adventurous and seeking out foreign acquisition targets. They are being bolder in terms of the locations they are seeking to acquire in including in the EU and US but also more in the East Asia. In the main they are seeking to acquire bolt on capabilities or a service a particular niche market.

We anticipate conditions will be fairly similar next year. There has been a slow decrease in interest rates though this has not yet made a marked difference to the dealmaking market, but the Italian M&A market remains somewhat dynamic, with positive prospects into 2025, provided parties can adjust to an environment of more conservative valuations and lower multiples than previous years, and subject always to any deterioration in the prevailing geo-political conditions. Some analysts are predicting a slightly weaker economy, not least due to the ongoing demographic crisis in the country, although the National Recovery and Resilience Plan may play a key role in keeping GDP on a growth path.

Looking ahead, we expect Italy to remain an attractive market for international investors, particularly given the strength of the manufacturing sector and the presence of private equity players with significant capital to invest.

The Italian market is still quite a fragmented market with small markets ripe for consolidation and sale.

We are seeing an increased number of VC transactions, and expect this to continue, though this may, in part, be due to our increased profile / capability as a firm rather than wholly due to market changes.

The TMC and energy (sustainable) sectors are likely to drive the future of the M&A and investment markets. We think it is likely that there will be a number of digitalisation and sustainability deals next year. In this context, a fundamental role could be played by the European legislator, which could be expected to intervene in favour of economic incentives.

Interest in mid-market companies will also increase, with many M&A transactions involving this segment.

We expect the volume of transactions to continue to grow in 2025. A rebound in deal activity was expected in H2 2024, but this didn't fully come to fruition, though we have begun to see M&A and PE picking up in Q3-4. Venture capital and growth equity are expected to grow again soon, due to new public funds which will be made available in that timeframe, with more early-stage businesses accessing funding, after 2024 saw more focus on growth and later stage companies. The new Trump administration in the US will be an unknown, as it will for all countries and its decisions are likely to impact globally, but perhaps the biggest concern for Poland is being a bordering country to Ukraine and any changes to the approach to that war with a new US administration and the geopolitical perception of Poland in relation to the war.

In the Polish M&A market we have observed a growing interest from foreign investors for acquisitions, investments and partnerships. International companies are attracted to the country's stable economy, skilled workforce and strategic location within Europe, and we expect this to continue in 2025.

We expect the improved picture and good deal volumes to continue in 2025 to continue, as there is plenty of available capital ripe for investment and market confidence has improved with the decline in interest rates. There is a new law coming in relating to nominee directors, and also elections in Singapore in 2025, but we don't expect these to any impact on the transactional market.

Singapore is heavily reliant on overseas investment. Consequently, the outcome of the US elections may influence flows of capital and interest from US investors and acquirers and there may be an impact on international work. However, interest rates falling may mitigate any effect. Hong Kong has lost some of its popularity with Chinese and US entities (and other overseas) investors, Singapore is now considered as the more neutral alternative and a number of investors including family offices are being established in Singapore with an inflow of high-net-worth individuals. This will have a positive impact on the investment climate.

In terms of sectors, we expect will see lots of activity, we would say these include TMC (particularly AI), Life Sciences and Healthcare (e.g. biotech), and Financial Services (fintech) M&A. With large amounts of available capital, we expect a good pipeline of fundraisings.

Things are looking like they will improve in 2025. There is lots of dry powder in private equity funds which they now need to deploy; they have held on but cannot hold on longer. On a plus point, the exemption for EU buyers to the FDI law for listed and larger companies will continue into next year. We also foresee that any new tariffs imposed on China may mean that there are more cross-border deals with Chinese entities to avoid the imposition of tariffs.

With improving market conditions, we anticipate Energy and Energy Transition (renewables), Life Sciences and Healthcare and TMC will continue to perform well, but we will hopefully also see more corporate activity in the Built Environment sector and real estate M&A as funding issues ease; there is likely to be deals relating to student accommodation, co-living and senior living.

In 2025, there are a number of factors that could impact the market, including the war in Ukraine, the outcome of the US elections and the various conflicts in the Middle East. The Swedish market is dependent on foreign investment, so deal flow will depend how these geo-political matters play out. However, the anticipation is that 2025 will be better year than 2024. Given activity has increased across 2024, we think that trend will continue. As regards sectors which will see a large amount of activity, next year we expect to see a continuing uptick in defence investments; there has been an increase in this type of work since the Swedish accession to NATO in March 2024.

We expect investors to be very active in 2025, due to the lack of investments in prior years. Investors are hungry to invest and have plenty dry powder that now needs to be invested. M&A is likely to pick up, particularly on the PE side with a number of exits overdue.

We are cautiously optimistic about the transactional market for 2025. There are funds of PE and VC investors that need to be spent coming to end of their expending life cycle; there is lots of dry powder available for deals. We believe that both the number of deals and also the deal valuations will increase, and we anticipate that sale processes that stalled in 2024 are waiting for the turn of the corner into 2025, as clients also anticipate those improvements in valuations. There is wider confidence in the European economy as a whole which is likely to be mirrored in the transactional market, though we note that we are only cautiously optimistic as we also made this prediction last year. We forecast that there will still be a strong focus on regulatory and ESG matters including foreign investment controls in the coming 12 months. With the new government in the Netherlands and a coalition that may not survive in the long term, there is a risk that the investment and tax climate may change.

We think it is likely that many of the deals we see will be in the TMC (AI and digitalisation), sustainability, ESG and Life Sciences and Healthcare areas and we predict that both M&A and PE/VC will bounce back. Real estate M&A was rare in 2024 and particularly hit by the lack of bank funding and the costs involved in meeting environmental rules and expectations when building, but we foresee that as funding eases that should bounce back quite well. Compliance businesses may be targets for investment or acquisition because the regulatory environment is increasing.

We are seeing a slowly improving market, though this may be slightly distorted as we head into 2025 due to any Budget changes that impact transactions and expedite closings. Conversely, changes may push some transactions into 2025 while parties wait and see the timetable and outcome of changes. Aside from the impact of fiscal changes, there is certainly more market confidence in the UK (though tempered slightly by the October Budget), and lower interest rates have contributed to this positive sentiment as has the need for private equity to now spend the capital it has stockpiled over the last few years. There are a number of factors that could dent confidence again, however, including the decisions of any new US administration, including the introduction of tariffs on imports, and political unrest around the world. The implementation of key provisions of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency in 2025 will add additional administrative burden around deal closings but will not markedly impact dealmaking.

In general the types of work we will see in 2025 will be similar to 2024, though we note that the fintech sector is starting to get busier and there have been reports about consolidation of smaller businesses (those that need to raise funds again could struggle unless they merge with another business).