Executive Summary/Highlights

• After a record-breaking 2021 in which global M&A volume surged to a new peak, global dealmaking slowed in the first quarter of 2022. Global M&A volume was approximately US$1.0 trillion in Q1 2022, less than any of the prior six quarters.
• Despite a decline in M&A activity relative to the record-breaking volumes of 2021, M&A volume in Q1 2022 was historically strong—13% higher than the average first-quarter volume of global M&A over the last 10 years (US$900 billion).
• Several mega deals were announced in Q1 2022, including Microsoft’s US$69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Elliott Capital Advisors’ and Vista Equity Partners’ US$16 billion buyout of Citrix Systems, and Brookfield Asset Management’s and Elliott Capital Advisors’ US$15 billion acquisition of Nielsen Holdings.
• With geopolitical conflict and Covid-19 lockdowns in Europe and Asia, U.S. M&A volume accounted for US$521 billion of global M&A volume in Q1 2022, representing just over 51% of global M&A volume, its highest share since Q2 2019 (58%) and above both its 44% share of in 2021 and its 43% share in the last 10 years.
• Cross-border M&A volume was US$328 billion in Q1 2022, a decrease of over 50% from the high level of cross-border M&A activity in Q4 2021 (US$657 billion) and a decline of 28% relative to Q1 2021 (US$453 billion).  In Q1 2022, cross-border deals represented 32% of global M&A volume, just above the proportion  in Q1 2021 (30%) but below the average proportion over the last 10 years (36%).
• The Technology sector led all others for the seventh consecutive quarter, accounting for 25% of aggregate global M&A volume in Q1 2022, an increase above its 17% share of global M&A volume in Q4 2021.

Click here to see the Review.