Dealmaker's Digest: A Top 10 Bulletin - January 2025

Deal Value Trends

Aggregate global monthly deal value¹ decreased moderately in December, down about $20 billion (6%) from November. Total monthly deal value decreased 15% year-over-year.

Transactions involving strategic buyers in December also declined in value (7%) from November. Strategic deal value in December dropped 25% year-over-year.

Financial, or sponsor, buyer transactions in December held steady, decreasing only 4% from November, rounding out a comparably steady Q4 for sponsor acquisitions. Sponsor buyer deal value increased 7% year-over-year.

Deal Count Trends

Global deal count held steady from November to December, ticking up 4%, and rounded out the most active quarter by count for the year. Monthly deal count increased 16% year-over-year.

Strategic buyer deal count in December increased moderately, up 6% from November and 11% year-over-year.

Sponsor buyer deal count in December remained steady month-over-month, decreasing just 1% from November. However, sponsor deal count rose dramatically (28%) year-over-year.

Annual Global M&A Activity (Transactions $100M+)

• M&A activity increased in 2024 by nearly all metrics as dealmakers seized opportunities amid more favorable transacting conditions, including consecutive interest rate cuts and tampered inflation. 
• Aggregate value of transactions $100m+ increased significantly in 2024 compared with 2023, up 14% across all buyer types. Aggregate value of sponsor buyer deals led the increase with a 36% jump, while strategic acquisitions held steady, up just 4%.
• The number of transactions valued at $100 million or greater increased 6% globally in 2024 vs 2023. Sponsor acquisitions jumped 24% by count, while acquisitions by strategic buyers held steady (declining a marginal 3%).
• The uptick in 2024 M&A activity was a noticeable rebound following consecutive declines in dealmaking since 2021’s $6.4 trillion record. 

Annual U.S. Crossborder Activity

• Inbound U.S. activity in 2024 jumped 21% by deal value from 2023 and held steady by deal count (declining just 3%). The value of U.S. companies acquired by non-U.S. buyers in 2024 totaled nearly $350 billion. 
• Outbound activity in 2024 jumped 18% by deal value from 2023 and remained stable by deal count, declining just 3%. The value of non-U.S. companies acquired by U.S. buyers in 2024 totaled over $430 billion.
• Canada-based acquirers drove the most inbound transactions in 2024 (287), followed closely by the UK (278). Japan-based buyers took third at 147 transactions.
• U.S. acquirers most frequently looked to targets in the UK during 2024 (572), with Canada (382) and Germany (198) rounding out the top three ex-U.S. target countries.

By Deal Count

• The software industry once again topped the list of U.S. M&A activity by deal count in December, continuing its streak as the leading industry by volume and rounding out a full year at number one.
• Services industries also remained active, with financial services and other professional services again rounding out the top three sectors in December by deal count.

By Deal Value

• Financial services was the leading U.S. industry by deal value in December, with two of the five largest deals of the month, together totaling more than $25 billion in deal value.
• Media was the second most active by deal value in December, bolstered by Omnicom’s blockbuster acquisition of Interpublic. Software targets were the third most active, at just over $15 billion in deal value.

Largest U.S. Media Deal

Omnicom Group has agreed to acquire The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $13.75 billion.

Largest U.S. Asset Management Deal

BlackRock, Inc. has agreed to acquire HPS Investment Partners, LLC in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $12 billion.

Selected Annual Highlights

More than 35 transactions exceeding $10 billion were announced globally during the year, demonstrative of the comparably favorable market conditions following tempered activity in 2023. Transformative deals were struck in a variety of sectors, including those highlighted below.

Industry	Target	Buyer	Deal Value
Consumer Goods	Kellanova	Mars, Incorporated	$36 B
Financial Services	Discover Financial Services	Capital One Financial Corporation	$35 B
Software	ANSYS, Inc.	Synopsys, Inc.	$34 B
Media	Paramount Global	Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners	$28 B
Energy	Endeavor Energy Resources, L.P.	Diamondback Energy, Inc.	$28 B
Pharma	Catalent, Inc.	Novo Holdings A/S	$16 B

2024 M&A Activity Recap

A snapshot of 2024 metrics, and how they stack up against 2023.

	2024	2023	Δ%
Global Deal Value	$3.91 T	$3.49 T	🡅 12%
Global Deal Count	43,101	42,546	🡅 1%
U.S. Deal Value	$1.77 T	$1.58 T	🡅 12%
U.S. Deal Count	11,412	11,695	🡇 2%
# of $10B+ Deals (U.S.)	27	22	🡅 23%

For more information, please contact your usual Ropes & Gray attorney or reach out to a member of our M&A team below.