France is generally considered the most challenging country for cross-border deals. This is evident from the M&A Trend Survey Benelux 2024 / 2025 by M&A and Ansarada. For this research, 175 Dutch and Belgian M&A professionals took part in an online survey and the M&A editors interviewed 35 dealmakers live.

In cross-border mergers and acquisitions, experiences with different countries vary significantly, with cultural differences playing a crucial role in the complexity of transactions. This explains why cross-border deals involving French companies often face difficulties. "France is a very complex country with challenging labor laws, and it's not always business-friendly. France leans more towards Southern Europe, while Flanders and the Netherlands have more of a Northern European or Northern German mindset. France still has more of a Latin approach, as we say in Belgium", says Hans Swinnen, Partner at private equity firm 3d investors.

Hossein Araghi, Managing Director Benelux at IT company Lyvia Group, adds an interesting perspective to the French challenge: "We’ve noticed that France can be divided into two parts: Paris and the rest. Paris is a very expensive, closed community where valuations have been driven up. Business is concentrated in one arrondissement, where everyone operates. However, outside Paris, the market is much more spread out across the country, and you really need local access. Each province has its own cultural nuances, which makes it more difficult."

In addition to France, the United States and the United Kingdom are also sometimes considered challenging, though for different reasons.

Tom Snijckers, Partner at law firm Oaklins, notes: "The United States can be difficult due to differences in legal systems, time zones, and scale."

With deals involving companies from the United Kingdom, the challenges seem to stem more from cultural differences. As Philippe Craninx, Managing Partner at M&A specialist Moore Corporate Finance, explains: "It’s a culture that is further removed from ours. The main difference lies in the importance of the collective versus the individual. To put it in black and white, in the Anglo-Saxon world, professional focus is primarily on KPIs and financial valuation. In our continental business world, it is just as much about respecting the individual in any role. Intangible values are just as important to us as material values."

At the other end of the spectrum, Germany and the Scandinavian countries are often considered the least challenging. It is especially pleasant to do business with Germans, says Sander Neeteson, Head of Corporate Finance at the bank ABN AMRO: "The German culture is predictable, 'an agreement is an agreement'. This predictability makes the deal process with German parties efficient and transparent, despite small cultural differences."

He is less pleased with the Scandinavian countries: “The region is a 'closed market', where companies tend to favor each other. This makes it difficult for outsiders to gain a foothold.” He notes that the Danes in particular are keen negotiators.

It is a view that not many experts share. Marcel Vlaar, Financial Due Diligence Partner at RSM Netherlands, praises the great 'cultural match' between Dutch and Scandinavian companies. “Transactions with Scandinavian countries are based on trust and pragmatism and therefore have the lowest risk of failure”, thinks Peter Zwijnenburg, Managing Director M&A and Transaction Solutions EMEA at Aon.