Well its been a very different summer so far and there is a lot more to be done before generally things really do feel something like normal but from a mergers view there are signs that activity is returning not only in respect of some large transactions such as Microsoft and Tik Tok but also amongst the mid market and the SME arena.  Certainly it would be expected that businesses that had been badly affected by Covid might be bought out of administration but there is an appetite to acquire trading businesses.  This in part is driven by the need to integrate the supply chain but also because money remains cheap and there is the logic of structuring deals whereby the risk is shared by both the seller and buyer.  Deferred considerations have been used frequently in the past but there is more sense in accepting this in todays environment as uncertainty about a second wave means that future cash flows and profits are more difficult to quatify.  There can be an upside to the seller - if the deferred is linked to a performance measure then this can include a further upside if the bounce back is stronger.  As always it pays to plan and to understand the prospects of achieving an exit -for some though the past four months will have proven to some shareholders that whatever now is the time to sell.