Cross-Border M&A: Bridging Global Assumptions and Local Regulatory Reality

Cross-border M&A is typically driven by clear strategic objectives, including market expansion, capability acquisition, and diversification. While the principles of deal-making are broadly consistent across jurisdictions, execution outcomes are often shaped by how effectively global assumptions align with local regulatory realities.

A recurring challenge is the gap between modelled transaction timelines and jurisdiction-specific regulatory practice. Investors frequently rely on published guidance and indicative timelines, which imply a linear approval process. In practice, however, regulatory approvals in many jurisdictions are iterative, involving repeated engagement rather than a single-pass review.

Approval processes commonly include multiple rounds of clarification, supplemental submissions, and ongoing dialogue with regulators. These dynamics can extend timelines beyond initial expectations and introduce execution uncertainty that is often underestimated at the planning stage.

Indonesia illustrates this clearly. Transactions involving financial institutions require approval from Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), including a fit and proper assessment of incoming shareholders and management.

While the framework is formally defined, the process in practice extends beyond procedural checks into substantive evaluation, requiring repeated clarification and engagement on governance quality, financial soundness, and strategic alignment.

In practice, this often becomes a bottleneck at the fit and proper assessment stage, where initial submissions often do not fully meet regulatory expectations, leading to repeated requests for clarification and iterative refinement of governance and ownership documentation.

Rather than moving in a straight line, this stage frequently involves multiple rounds of regulatory feedback, where each response cycle can extend the overall timeline. As a result, transaction duration is less influenced by the number of formal steps, and more by the depth of regulatory inquiry and the responsiveness of the parties to evolving feedback. This iterative assessment phase is therefore the primary determinant of execution speed in many cases.

The key execution issue is therefore not regulatory complexity per se, but how the process operates in practice. Effective transaction planning requires embedding flexibility into deal timelines, anticipating multiple rounds of regulator engagement, and allowing sufficient buffer for iterative review. Early preparation of shareholder and management documentation, together with a structured engagement strategy, is often critical in reducing avoidable delay.

Equally important is local execution insight. A practical understanding of how regulatory authorities apply discretion in real time—beyond formal requirements—materially improves timeline accuracy and helps identify potential bottlenecks early in the process.

Ultimately, while strategic rationale underpins cross-border M&A, execution discipline determines outcomes. Alignment between global assumptions and local regulatory dynamics is essential to improving certainty and achieving timely deal completion.

This article was first published in the January 2026 edition of GGI FYI M&A News No 10 | May 2026 , a publication by Geneva Group International (GGI) featuring insights from professionals across the globe.

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