By Christopher Hewitt and Jayne Juvan

As disruptive as the current M&A landscape has been, deal practitioners have seen and successfully navigated similar disturbances before. Doing so is never easy, however, especially during dark days like March 16, 2020, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average sharply dropped 2,997 points due to COVID-19. Many presumed that deal activity would grind to an extended halt. While volume initially plummeted, a “V-”shaped recovery ensued even as the pandemic raged on.

Perhaps similar to a wartime period, today’s challenges are daunting. The world continues to fight an ever-changing, deadly virus that is outmaneuvering the medical community’s efforts at eradication. Couple that with supply chain disruptions, an inflationary environment and jockeying over U.S. tax policy, and headwinds are the only thing that seem bountiful. But while brighter days seem lost or far off, history has proven at least one thing is for certain – they always return. Executives who study the current situation to identify opportunities for their businesses, have the audacity to execute on them, and do so in an intelligent way have a jump on those who take themselves out of the game.

Included in this Crain’s Cleveland Business article are a few of the issues to understand to position yourself for a lucrative outcome. Read the full article here.