COVID-19
Jeremy Fago is the U.S. Energy, Utilities and Mining Deals Leader at PwC.
It is the accepted and expected ritual to seal a merger. Stepping away from their crammed town cars, packing themselves into the elevators, the execs of the merging companies, together with the dealmakers, then arrive at the richly furnished conference room. Each of the men and the women present is decked out in their most expensive power suit. The signing pen is passed around. The handshakes and hugs are hearty. A bottle of the best champagne is shared. After that, selected members of the press are admitted in, crowding into the conference room until there's little room left. A few softball questions are tossed, and finally the celebrating pours out, to the assistants and attendants awaiting.
Except, in this period of the pandemic, how exactly is this supposed to work? Packed cars, elevators, and conference rooms? Power suits? (Help me out, what's a suit?) Passing around pens and champagne? And, handshakes and hugs? Egads!
Our expert on deals must know how all of this is working out, what's happening in M&A amid masks. So, as we do after every financial quarter, we called Jeremy, to understand where energy and utilities M&A is at this point in time and particularly where it's heading. Jeremy Fago, that is, who undoubtedly has a closet full of power suits that have each attired him at one of these fancy merger rituals.