Rising interest rates, last spring’s regional banking crisis and other headwinds sent dealmakers and lenders to the sidelines for much of 2023, a year that saw a 44% drop in deal value and a 36% decline in transaction count in its first nine months compared with the same period in 2022, according to S&P Market Intelligence Data.
The coming year looks brighter on the deal front. A majority of respondents to ACG’s 2024 outlook survey expect M&A activity to increase, although high interest rates and economic uncertainty remain top concerns. Lenders say capital is available for high-quality deals, thanks to a bustling private credit market—but riskier transactions are likely to face a harder path.