<p>Global dealmaking is set to maintain its scorching pace next year, after a historic year for merger and acquisition (M&A) activity that was fueled largely by easy availability of cheap financing and booming stock markets.</p>.<p>Global M&A volumes topped $5 trillion for the first time ever, comfortably eclipsing the previous record of $4.55 trillion set in 2007, Dealogic data showed. The overall value of M&A stood at $5.8 trillion in 2021, up 64 per cent from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv.</p>.<p>Flush with cash and encouraged by soaring stock market valuations, large buyout funds, corporates and financiers struck 62,193 deals in 2021, up 24 per cent from the year-earlier period, as all-time records tumbled during each month of the year.</p>.<p>Investment bankers said they are expecting the dealmaking frenzy to continue well into next year, despite looming interest rate hikes.</p>.<p>Higher interest rates increase borrowing costs, which may slow down M&A activity. However, deal advisers still expect a flurry of large mergers in 2022.</p>.<p>Accommodative monetary policies from the US Federal Reserve fueled a stock market rally and gave company executives access to cheap financing, which in turn emboldened them to go after large targets.</p>.<p>The United States led the way for M&A, accounting for nearly half of global volumes - the value of M&A nearly doubled to $2.5 trillion in 2021, despite a tougher antitrust environment under the Biden administration.</p>.<p>The largest deals of the year included AT&T Inc's $43 billion deal to merge its media businesses with Discovery Inc ; the $34 billion leveraged buyout of Medline Industries Inc; Canadian Pacific Railway's $31 billion takeover of Kansas City Southern; and the breakups of American corporate behemoths General Electric Co and Johnson & Johnson.</p>.<p>According to a survey of dealmakers and advisers by Grant Thornton LLP, over two-thirds of participants believe deal volumes will grow despite challenges posed by regulations and the pandemic.</p>.<p>Deals in sector such as technology, financials, industrials, and energy and power accounted for the bulk of M&A volumes. Buyouts backed by private-equity firms more than doubled this year to cross the $1 trillion mark for the first time ever, according to Refinitiv data.</p>.<p>Despite a slowdown in activity in the second half, dealmaking involving special purpose acquisition companies further boosted M&A volumes in 2021. SPAC deals accounted for about 10 per cent of the global M&A volumes and added several billions of dollars to the overall tally.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos</strong></p>
<p>Global dealmaking is set to maintain its scorching pace next year, after a historic year for merger and acquisition (M&A) activity that was fueled largely by easy availability of cheap financing and booming stock markets.</p>.<p>Global M&A volumes topped $5 trillion for the first time ever, comfortably eclipsing the previous record of $4.55 trillion set in 2007, Dealogic data showed. The overall value of M&A stood at $5.8 trillion in 2021, up 64 per cent from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv.</p>.<p>Flush with cash and encouraged by soaring stock market valuations, large buyout funds, corporates and financiers struck 62,193 deals in 2021, up 24 per cent from the year-earlier period, as all-time records tumbled during each month of the year.</p>.<p>Investment bankers said they are expecting the dealmaking frenzy to continue well into next year, despite looming interest rate hikes.</p>.<p>Higher interest rates increase borrowing costs, which may slow down M&A activity. However, deal advisers still expect a flurry of large mergers in 2022.</p>.<p>Accommodative monetary policies from the US Federal Reserve fueled a stock market rally and gave company executives access to cheap financing, which in turn emboldened them to go after large targets.</p>.<p>The United States led the way for M&A, accounting for nearly half of global volumes - the value of M&A nearly doubled to $2.5 trillion in 2021, despite a tougher antitrust environment under the Biden administration.</p>.<p>The largest deals of the year included AT&T Inc's $43 billion deal to merge its media businesses with Discovery Inc ; the $34 billion leveraged buyout of Medline Industries Inc; Canadian Pacific Railway's $31 billion takeover of Kansas City Southern; and the breakups of American corporate behemoths General Electric Co and Johnson & Johnson.</p>.<p>According to a survey of dealmakers and advisers by Grant Thornton LLP, over two-thirds of participants believe deal volumes will grow despite challenges posed by regulations and the pandemic.</p>.<p>Deals in sector such as technology, financials, industrials, and energy and power accounted for the bulk of M&A volumes. Buyouts backed by private-equity firms more than doubled this year to cross the $1 trillion mark for the first time ever, according to Refinitiv data.</p>.<p>Despite a slowdown in activity in the second half, dealmaking involving special purpose acquisition companies further boosted M&A volumes in 2021. SPAC deals accounted for about 10 per cent of the global M&A volumes and added several billions of dollars to the overall tally.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos</strong></p>