ANALYSIS: All M&A Market Segments Saw Q3 Drop in Deal Volume

Last quarter’s mergers and acquisitions market results illustrate that heightened uncertainty continues to hinder M&A activity. Q3 saw a notable dip in global M&A volume compared to recent quarters, and no market segment was immune to the fall.

The degree to which Q3 2022 deal activity is down is striking. Last quarter had the second-lowest total deal volume ($504 billion) for controlling-stake transactions of any quarter from Jan. 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2022. Only Q2 2020—when the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic started to truly hit—had a lower quarterly deal volume ($225 billion). And Q3 2022 had the lowest ...