At $730 billion, global M&A value changed little from Q3 of last year, but transaction volume was down 31% to roughly 7,000 deals. Despite the global drop, America deal value and volume were up 37% and 49%, respectively. indicating continued resilience in the American economy over the past year. North American deals, valued at $377 billion, comprised over half of the global total. Most sectors have seen activity fall, but earnouts and distressed buyouts are proving more common in less certain times. Geopolitical instability, economic uncertainty and high interest rates don’t suggest a ba ..read more

Venture capital and private equity transactions have fallen dramatically, with North American value and volume down 60% and 35%, respectively. Global year-over-year figures were slightly lower as a result, reflecting both American activity comprising a large portion of the world total and a worldwide slowdown. Financial sponsors are still sitting on over a trillion dollars in dry powder, but headwinds include a tougher regulatory environment, more expensive financing, and a widening gap between buyer and seller. Analysts say the slowdown is due to higher interest rates pushing down valuation ..read more

Picture this: You wake up one morning to a chorus of dings, and your heart sinks as you see a long and growing list of notifications. It doesn’t take long to learn your high-profile company's board had its sensitive discussions, strategic plans, and data exposed by a sophisticated cyber-attack. The aftermath? Devastating financial losses, reputational harm, and a lot of late nights cleaning up the mess ..read more

M&A Falls, but Sentiment Rises Economic uncertainty and higher interest rates put a damper on Q2, continuing a recent trend of lower performance. Activity was well above the previous quarter, but deal value was down 25% from Q2 2022, while volume was down 20%. North America, particularly the United States, proved more resilient than Asia and Europe, while Latin America and India are standout performers. Dry powder and high interest rates continue to create a curious combo: high deal volume at lower average valuations. While world treads carefully, economic signs are looking better than t ..read more

Q1 was a tough quarter for M&A, continuing a trend of softening sentiment thanks to high interest rates, supply chain challenges, and recession fears. Globally, there were just under 6,000 deals, down about 30% from Q1. Total deal value was down 40% to $775 billion. A rare bright spot was the Life Sciences sector, which saw an increase in total deal value, largely due to mega-mergers ranging from healthcare systems to Big Pharma. There are a number of real headwinds facing markets, but several emerging trends could support economic activity moving forward ..read more

  Life Sciences may have been the only sector to outperform Q1 of 2022.  Performance was largely buoyed by strong performance in biotech and healthcare systems.  Year-over-year, deal volume fell 23% to 623 deals, slightly better than the broader M&A volume change. However, deal value was up a whopping 42% for the sector to $112 billion.  Healthcare systems are seeing broad consolidation, while pharma companies search for a parachute before patent cliffs.  ..read more

..read more

Earnouts have long been a major part of the M&A space, and they tend to be even more common when times get tougher. Earnouts give buyers some protection against an acquisition’s future underperformance, and allow sellers to enjoy a higher sales price if they can hit their projected numbers. We expect earnouts to be a bigger part of the M&A landscape this year, so let’s talk about them ..read more

Starting a business may not require a ton of money outright, but growing it likely will. For startup founders focused on building a company from the ground up, the idea of fundraising is no doubt a bit overwhelming. It is hard enough to keep things running when there are limited resources, and there simply may not seem like time for the often arduous fundraising process. Given that fledgling entrepreneurs probably have a lot of questions before they can delve into the process and not much time to spend researching, here is a look at some of the common questions answered ..read more