
The appetite for mergers is drying up amid a new wave of market volatility and as dealmakers wait for a rebound. In this climate, there are still several companies seeking buyers, but whether they will succeed is unclear.
So far this year, there have been 6,245 mergers announced in the U.S., a 13% drop in the number of deals compared to 2023, according to Aug. 8 data from Dealogic. These transactions were valued at $966.5 billion, which is 24% more than the deals announced during the same time period in 2023. Private equity transactions reflect the same trend. The number of U.S. PE mergers was down 10% while deal value, $291.9 billion, was up 9% versus 2023.