We begin 2024 with measured optimism for an increase in M&A transactions both by volume and value.
Strategic investors, bolstered by surging C-suite confidence, strong balance sheets, and the need to embrace artificial intelligence and digital transformation, are poised to engage in more dealmaking.
Private equity principals, benefiting from upwards of US$2 trillion in dry powder, a declining cost of capital, and narrowing valuation gaps between sellers and buyers, are also positioned to engage in additional transactions.
Across strategics and sponsors, we expect increased M&A activity in the energy, life sciences and health care, mobility, and technology sectors.
M&A transactions will continue to face headwinds during the course of 2024, attributable to active antitrust enforcement and foreign direct investment scrutiny, persistent conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, continuing trade tensions between China and the United States, and uncertainties associated with upcoming elections in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the United Kingdom.
Even so, the opportunity to embrace new markets, keep pace with technology, and harness government subsidies will lead to additional transactional activity in the months to come.
To read the full 2024 M&A Outlook, please click here.
Authored by the M&A Leadership Team and Zachary V. Alvarez, Jessica A. Bisignano, Darcy F. Bisset, Michael Bonsignore, Logan M. Breed, John Brockland, Kevin R. Burke, Sean P. Collins, John Connell, Brian P. Curran, Aaron S. Cutler, Jacky Scanlan-Dyas, Adrienne Ellman, Tobias Faber, Ken Field, Ari Fridman, Ed Harris, Megan Ridley-Kaye, Stefan M. Krantz, John Livesey, Peter Cohen-Millstein, Lyndsay Montour, Zohar Nevo, William M. Regan, Niki Roberts, Jane Ross, Joanne Rotondi, Jonathan Russell, Anne Salladin, Falk Schoening, Florian von Schreitter, Todd Schwartz, Sarah Shaw, Michael Szlamkowicz, Christopher Thomas, James M. Wickett, Gabrielle M. Witt, Christoph Wuenschmann, Allison M Wuertz, Liang Xu, William W. Yavinsky, Lu Zhou, and Nikolas Zirngibl.
