NEW YORK/LONDON – 30 September 2024: Mergermarket, an ION Analytics service, reports that the recovery in global deal-making continued into 3Q24 as central banks in Europe and the US began cutting interest rates. Mega deals drove activity, with the tech sector capturing a significant portion of deal volume, highlighting a nascent recovery fueled by expectations of lower rates. These findings are based on data from Mergermarket’s 9M24 M&A Highlights report, published today.

The report notes that despite the uptick in M&A deal volume, the market has faced challenges over the period. Small and mid-cap M&A remained subdued, with ongoing valuation challenges as firms adjusted to the shifting interest rates. Private equity (PE) investors have held on to assets for longer and explored alternative exit strategies. As a result, there is a substantial backlog of transactions in the M&A pipeline, most notably PE exits.

Key findings from the report reveal:

• Global M&A volume for 9M24 increased 18.8% Year-On-Year (Y-O-Y) to USD 2.5 trillion. Mega deals valued at USD 2 billion or more accounted for USD 1.278 trillion, over half the total volume.
• North America dominated M&A activity with 50% of the volume, while EMEA held 26% and Asia Pacific took 22%.

• The biggest deal came from Japan, with retail conglomerate Seven & I receiving a USD 58 billion bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard. The remaining deals in the top 10 involved US-based targets.
• Tech deals accounted for 20% of the total volume, up from 18% last year but down from 26% in both 2022 and 2021.
• After a dip in the first quarter, financial sponsor-led buyouts surged, with 3Q buyout volume rising 42% Y-o-Y to USD 166 billion and the total for the first nine months up 38% to USD 456.5 billion.
• Sponsor exits rebounded from 2023’s lows, with exits in the first nine months totaling USD 292 billion, up 19% from the same period last year.

Lucinda Guthrie, Head of Mergermarket, says, “Mega deals have been at the forefront of M&A activity in 2024, causing deal volumes to increase substantially each quarter this year. Despite the typical skittishness around the US election outcomes that traditionally leads to a 3Q dip in activity, North America saw substantial blockbuster deals hitting the headlines this year, including Mars’ bid for Kellanova and Verizon’s swoop on Frontier Communications.

Given that M&A is coming back from a period of slim deal flow, there is a strong backlog of transactions, most notably private equity exits, in the M&A pipeline. Although geopolitical and macro uncertainty persists, the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut together with the typical post-US election 4Q boost in M&A activity offers further optimism for activity in the months to come.”

To download the full report, click here.