Drawing on a record-breaking 601 transactions advised on across Europe in 2025, the study finds the market stable but incrementally shifting in buyers’ favor — with more earn-outs, longer limitation periods, and private equity accounting for 27% of all buyers. A standout finding is the rapid adoption of AI in dealmaking: legal tech was used in 60% of transactions, with practitioners reporting efficiency gains in nearly three quarters of those cases. For the Ukrainian market specifically, CMS notes a divergence from European norms — MAC clauses, rare elsewhere, are now appearing in almost every local transaction due to the ongoing war.
