Amidst a landscape fraught with macroeconomic uncertainty, the first seven months of 2023 proved challenging for deal activity (mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity (PE) and venture financing), with firms contending with the ripple effects of escalating interest rates and an ambiguous economic horizon. This struggle unfolded alongside a broader narrative of global deal activity, which experienced a significant year-on-year decline of 23.6% during the period from January to July 2023, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that deal volume decreased from 42,504 to 32,460. The number of M&A, PE and venture financing deals declined by 16.9%, 25.8% and 31.8%, respectively, during January to July 2023 compared to the same period the previous year.
Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The course of deal activity has been through a rough phase so far in 2023 driven by economic uncertainty, recession concerns, and geopolitical tensions. This downturn extends across various regions and resonates within pivotal markets, indicating a prevailing and far-reaching pattern.”
North America continued to dominate the deals landscape even though the region witnessed 27.4% YoY decline in deal volume during January-July 2023. Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South and Central America regions too witnessed decline in deal volume by 20.1%, 20.4%, 25.5% and 28.5%, respectively, during the period.
Several key markets suffered setback in deal activity. For instance, the US, China, the UK, Canada, India, Japan, Germany, France, Australia and South Korea saw respective deals volume YoY falling by 28.9%, 13.3%, 14.7%, 12.8%, 30.9%, 14.8%, 22.4%, 16.7%, 21.2%, and 31.9% during January-July 2023.
Bose concludes: “This challenging phase underscores the complexities of navigating a evolving landscape while also testing the enduring capacity of industries to adapt and seek avenues of revival.”
