The London Olympic Games begins this Friday, with an opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle featuring all things British, complete with rain clouds and farm animals.
However, despite the Government's hopes that the games will boost British businesses and provide a much needed injection into the ailing economy, many corporate lawyers report that the Games have had a negative effect on mergers and acquisitions.
The UK is hosting a series of global business summits in London as part of the proposal to declare Britain 'open for business'.
However, the effect of the Games has been to impose significant transportation and logistical issues for weeks before and after the event.
August is traditionally a quiet time of year anyway for corporate law activity, although many observers note that the slowdown in activity this year has come much earlier and is expected to last well into the Autumn.
Ian Martin is a corporate merger and acquisitions partner at international law firm MacFarlanes. He told the Financial Times that the industry is not expected to restart until well into September.
"Most advisers and banks try not to execute deals over August but [the usual slowdown] began earlier this year and won't restart in earnest until September," he said.
However, whilst some report a significant slowing in business, other leading corporate lawyers believe that the Games served to rush deals along, as businesses sought to complete important negotiations before the Olympic disruptions began.
The financial impact of the Games has also recently come under scrutiny. The Government has until now touted previous successes in cities such as Los Angeles, Barcelona and Seoul as a blueprint for financial success at the London event. However, recent failures in Athens and Sydney look a more realistic prospect for an Olympic Games which has already gone considerably over budget.
It is hoped that government plans for legacy uses for almost all the Olympic venues will generate income for years to come. In many other host cities venues were not used and years later remain empty.
Goldman Sachs believes that the Games will have a positive effect on the UK economy, however, predicting that the event could boost UK output by 0.3-0.4%.
Source:
UK deals delayed over Olympics disruption (The Financial Times)
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