24 Jan, 2025

US, Canadian M&A slowdown extends through 2024; deal values up

By Nick Lazzaro and Umer Khan


A long slowdown in M&A activity across the US and Canada extended throughout 2024, though several megadeals pushed the total value of those transactions higher year over year.

The 17,411 M&A deals in the US and Canada was nearly even with the 17,450 deals in 2023 but was more than 21% lower than the 22,057 deals announced in 2022, according to the latest S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Still, the aggregate value of deals struck in 2024 was about 10% higher year over year at $1.394 trillion.

Fourth-quarter 2024 activity fell from the previous three months, with the 4,231 deals announced with an aggregate transaction value of $301.06 billion down 5.66% and 22.22%, respectively, from the third quarter of 2024. On a year-over-year basis, the number of deals in the fourth quarter was up less than 1% with the total value of those transactions plunging nearly 30%. The fourth quarter's more subdued M&A activity occurred in parallel with economic uncertainty stemming from the US presidential election and the cloudy outlook for further interest rate cuts.

Largest deals

Switzerland's Amcor PLC and Evansville, Indiana-based Berry Global Group Inc. announced Nov. 19, 2024, that they had entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine the two packaging product companies in an all-stock transaction. Among all announced M&A deals involving a target in the US or Canada, the Amcor-Berry merger was the largest in the fourth quarter and the 10th largest in 2024, with the transaction valued at $16.90 billion.

Amcor and Berry expect to close the transaction in mid-2025. The merger is set to create a consumer and healthcare packaging industry leader with broader product offerings in multiple categories, Amcor CEO Peter Konieczny told investors during a Nov. 19, 2024, call held to discuss the transaction.

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Overall, Mars Inc.'s agreement to acquire Kellanova in a transaction valued at $35.83 billion was the largest deal disclosed in 2024.

Sector activity

The number of M&A deals declined in the fourth quarter of 2024 from the third quarter of 2024 in all eight sectors included in Market Intelligence's analysis. The real estate sector saw the biggest drop with deals decreasing almost 48% to 145.

However, the number of transactions that fell into an unclassified sector designation rose almost 63% to 1,300 in the fourth quarter from 798 in the third quarter. The aggregate transaction value of deals in the fourth quarter that did not have a sector classification also jumped over 34% on the quarter to $36.67 billion.

Although the number of M&A deals in the fourth quarter fell from the third quarter in all eight sectors, the aggregate transaction value of deals rose nearly 15% to $48.97 billion for the financial sector and surged over 129% to $49.84 billion for the materials sector.

Meanwhile, aggregate transaction value for all M&A deals declined in the other six sectors, weakening the most in the consumer sector with a 73% slide on the quarter to $18 billion.