2022 will not come close to 2021 which was a banner M&A year. 2022 Q4 was the slowest.
Final 2022 deal data from Refinitiv confirms what we’ve known for months: M&A activity was strong by historical standards, but a far cry from the record-setting heat of 2021.
- Global deal value and volume were down 38% and 18%, respectively, from 2021. The declines for U.S. deals were 39% and 15%.
- Q4 was the year’s slowest quarter, after having been the busiest in 2021 and 2020.
The top three industry sectors remained software, oil/gas and transportation/infrastructure.