Frank Aquila, S&C’s Senior M&A Partner, discussed the state of M&A in 2022 with Law360. Frank highlighted that although M&A activity declined in comparison to 2021’s historic volume, it’s impressive that M&A levels have increased to pre-2021 levels despite significant geopolitical conflict, high inflation and rising interest rates.
He also indicated that, despite a potential recession in the United States, most buyers are more concerned about the global economic downturn than the economy in the United States. “If anything, non-U.S. buyers, particularly from Europe and Japan, will likely be focused on making acquisitions in the United States,” he said.
Overall, Frank said that the current state of M&A is not that dire. “To paraphrase Mark Twain if I may, the reports of M&A’s demise were greatly exaggerated,” Frank said. “Yes, we did not beat the records set in 2021, but that was unlikely to happen under almost any circumstances. Even with higher interest rates and liquidity strengths, we saw one of the busier years for acquisitions on record.”
Read “M&A Falls Back Down To Earth, Faces New Challenges In 2023.”