Monetary regime change puts winds in dealmakers’ sails

With the Federal Reserve’s recent rate cut, the first in over four years, optimism has returned to the M&A landscape. Deal volume in the Americas drew almost level with the same period last year, registering only a slight year-on-year decline of 2.2% to 2,959 transactions. However, overall deal value increased significantly, by 24.1% year-on-year, indicating a shift toward higher-value transactions. Aggregate value also rose by 18.5% from Q2 2024, further underscoring that dealmakers are putting larger transactions to work.

TMT ahead of the pack

The TMT sector not only bested all other industries, but it was also an exception in that it posted a sizable volume gain in Q3 while others softened by this measure. The sector’s tally reached 843 in Q3, a 10.6% year-on-year increase. Deal value surged even more pronouncedly, increasing by 42.1%, from US$98.3bn to US$139.7bn, thanks to some sizable telecoms transactions.

Northeastern promise

The Northeastern US started 2024 as a hotspot for prospective M&A and continues to lead as of Q3, particularly with regard to the technology, media & telecoms (TMT) and pharma, medical & biotech (PMB) sectors. All told, there were 765 Northeastern US ‘companies for sale’ stories as recorded by Mergermarket, comprising just over 30% of all forward-looking activity in the Americas.

Published in association with Datasite, Deal Drivers Americas provides an in-depth review of M&A activity in 2024 and an outlook for 2025.

The report is also available on datasite.com.