Global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) volumes totalled $989.5bn in the first quarter of 2022, down by 20% on the same period last year, making this the slowest opening quarter since 2020, according to data from Refinitiv Deals Intelligence.
The number of deals has also decreased by a similar amount, down by 19% from last year. It is also the first quarter that has registered global M&A volumes under $1tn since the second quarter of 2020. However, the number of deals with a value greater than $10bn has increased by 38% compared with last year, but smaller ticket deals between $1bn and $5bn have fallen by 40%.