A total of 23,790 deals (comprising mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity, and venture financing deals) were announced globally during the first six months (H1) of 2024. This represents a 19% year-on-year (YoY) decline in deal volume compared to the announcement of 29,385 deals during H1 2023, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database also revealed that all the deal types under coverage suffered setback during the review period. For instance, the number of M&A deals fell by 13.2% during H1 2024 compared to H1 2023, while the volume of private equity deals and venture financing deals witnessed a YoY decline of 20.3% and 27.7%, respectively.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Deal-making sentiments took a hit due to ongoing geopolitical tensions, uncertain market conditions, and macroeconomic challenges. Amid these uncertainties, deal makers seem to be taking a cautious approach, with the impact on deal activity being felt across all the regions and most of the key markets globally.”

For instance, North America witnessed a 23.9% YoY decline in deal volume during H1 2024 compared to H1 2023. Meanwhile, other regions including Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America saw respective deal volume YoY declines of 20%, 10.9%, 13.9%, and 28.9% in H1 2024, respectively.

Bose adds: “The decline could be attributed to the subdued deal activity experienced across most of the countries within these regions.”

The US, which continues to remain the top market globally by deal volume, registered a 23.4% decline in deal volume during H1 2024 compared to H1 2023. Other key markets such as the UK, China, Canada, Germany, Australia, France, and Italy also witnessed a YoY decline in deal volume by 13.6%, 20.9%, 28.5%, 19.8%, 4.7%, 37.7%, and 18.2%, during H1 2024, respectively.