Almost everyone has experienced buyer’s remorse. It’s the feeling of purchasing, say, a big-screen TV at full price, only to see it on sale later for 50 percent off. Imagine, though, agreeing to pay $6 million for a chain of yoga studios just before the government shuts down exercise classes to slow the spread of a highly infectious disease. Or, more generally, agreeing to buy a company just before the stock market drops 30 percent, throwing the economic future of entire industries into turmoil.

That’s the kind of buyer’s remorse on steroids hitting scores of acquirers that committed to M&A … Read more