ANALYSIS: Software, REITs Stand Out in Slower Global M&A Market

Currently, most categories of deals—whether grouped by target industry, region, consideration type, or deal structure—are down compared to where they were in last year’s booming mergers and acquisitions market. But deals involving software or real estate investment trusts (REITs) seem to be defying gravity.

A look at the top target industries ranked by aggregate deal volume over the past four years shows that 2022 year-to-date deal activity involving targets in the software and REIT industries stands out for two reasons: both industries have markedly higher deal activity (measured by deal count and dollar volume) than other industries, and they’ve already ...