Global M&A trends and risks 2023, in association with Norton Rose Fulbright, features insights from 200 senior executives from multinational corporates, large private equity firms and major investment banks to highlight the opportunities and risks for dealmaking in 2023.

Highlights include:

• Voracious dealmakers — M&A appetites on the rise. 51% of respondents overall expect their appetite for M&A to increase somewhat in 2023 (compared to 2022), with a further 5% saying it will increase significantly. Only 17% expect their appetite to decrease.
• Private equity ready to put dry powder to work. 58% of respondents in the US and Canada identify the prevalence of private equity dry powder among their top-three drivers of M&A activity in 2023. In Australia and in Europe and the Middle East, the largest shares of votes in both cases are accrued by ESG guidelines (44% and 46%, respectively).
• Global technology M&A still the gold standard. 63% of respondents place the technology sector among their top-three industries expected to see the highest growth in inbound cross-border M&A in 2023 compared with 2022.
• From cyber to sustainability, regulation bites. In the US and Canada, cybersecurity-related regulations are expected to most suppress M&A activity in 2023, identified by 55% of respondents among their top-two selections. In Europe and the Middle East, ESG/climate change regulations (54%) are predicted to most complicate M&A activity.
• FDI frostiness inhibiting cross-border. M&A in Asia and Africa. In developing economies, foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations are expected to have the most suppressive effect on M&A. This is identified by 65% of respondents among their top-two selections regarding M&A in Asia, and almost as many (64%) say the same of the prospective impact of FDI policy in Africa.