S&P says M&A activity "weak" during Q4 by North American companies
Maksim Labkouski

Mergers and acquisitions by North American companies declined in the fourth quarter of 2022, causing them to end the year on a weak note when compared to 2021, as rising interest rates and a slowing economy discouraged companies from deal-making, according to a report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
M&A from U.S. and Canada fell to $1.477 trillion in 2022, down 41.4% from 2021, while the number of transactions dropped to 20,965, down 21.2% from last year, the report said.
The report showed that Microsoft-Activision Blizzard (MSFT) deal was the biggest of 2022, at nearly $69 billion, followed by Broadcom's (AVGO) $67.99 billion offer to buy out VMWare. Elon Musk taking Twitter private was the third-biggest deal of the year.

The report highlighted that M&A activity was particularly slow in H2 of 2022 with $517.85 billion of deals, down by 38.2% when compared to the first half of the year. 
In retrospect, 2021 was a record high year for deal-making as "ultra-low interest rates and the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program" helped companies obtain cash and cheap credit, the report said.
The consumer sector activity in Q4 was driven by Kroger's takeover of Albertsons for $30.60 billion, while deals in industrials sector also showed strength, most notably for IAA, Westinghouse Electric and Maxar Technologies.
The real estate and technology, media and telecommunications sectors saw weakness in M&A activity in the last three months of 2022, S&P said.

Image Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence