Global merger and acquisition (M&A) activity shattered all-time records in 2021, comfortably erasing the high-water mark that was set nearly 15 years ago, as an abundance of capital and sky-high valuations fueled frenetic levels of deal making.
The value of M&A globally topped $5 trillion for the first time ever, with volumes rising 63 percent to $5.63 trillion by Dec. 16, according to Dealogic data, easily surpassing the pre-financial-crisis record of $4.42 trillion in 2007.
“Corporate balance sheets are incredibly healthy, sitting on $2 trillion of cash in the U.S. alone – and access to capital remains widely-available at historically low costs,” said Chris Roop who co-heads North America M&A at JPMorgan.
Technology and healthcare, which typically account for the biggest share of the M&A market, led the way again in 2021, driven partly by pent-up demand from last year when the pace of M&A activity fell to a three-year-low due to the global financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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